I See Sparks Fly
by BigLadyPotter
Summary: Lauren Rocque has just moved to the Palmwoods to start recording with her uncle at Rocque Records. What happens when she meets the guys of Big Time Rush? Total craziness and maybe even a little love.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

I plop down on the lounge chair, and close my eyes, soaking in the sun. As much as I loved filming The Hunger Games in North Carolina, nothing can beat L.A. weather. And I missed it.

I put my ear buds in and start listening to my favorite band, Big Time Rush. I can't believe I still haven't met them yet, even though my uncle is the Gustavo Rocque. But they supposedly live here at the Palmwoods, so I should meet them eventually.

I lay there absorbing the heat for a few minutes, but then the sunlight is blocked. I wait a minute, but when the shade hasn't moved, I squint open my eyes and yank out my ear buds. I sigh, "Excuse me, I'm trying to get a tan, and you're kinda blocking the sun."

I try to look at the faces of the four guys standing in front of me, but after having my eyes closed for a while, I can't see well. One of the guys, who I can see has long blond hair, speaks up. "Sorry to disturb you, but we noticed you're new here, and we just want to welcome you to the Palmwoods."

I sit up and smile at him. He starts to continue. "By the way, I'm Kendall, and this is-"

I interrupt him as I can finally see their faces. And I know exactly who they are. "Oh my god, you're Big Time Rush!" I exclaim and look at them. Yep, it's really them, standing right in front of me.

"Um, yeah, we are," the guy on the left says who I realize is Logan. "Are you a fan?"

I nod my head and smile, hardly able to believe that I am meeting my favorite band. "Mhm, you should have seen how annoyed everyone on set got with me for always listening to your music."

"Sweet, you're an actress?" Carlos replies cheerfully.

Before continuing, I slide over on my chair, so that there's room for two of them to sit next to me. I pat the spots, and James and Carlos quickly sit down. Logan and Kendall both then sit on the chair next to mine.

"Yeah, I'm an actress. I just got done filming for The Hunger Games. But now, my uncle is making me record with him over at-" I pause as a thought dawns on me. "I just realized, I never introduced myself! I'm Lauren Rocque."

The guys scream out "What?" and Logan spits out the drink he had been taking a sip of. They all start examining me like I'm about to sprout horns or something bizarre.

"Rocque?" James says with eyebrows raised. "Like Gustavo Rocque?"

I sigh and nod my head. I knew this would happen. "Yeah, he's my uncle."

"But you're not evil like him!" Carlos shouts out and quickly covers his mouth. Kendall smacks him on the leg and glares at him.

I can't help but laugh at his response, since Uncle Gustavo can be quite mean. "I totally know what you mean! But luckily I take after my mom's side of the family; they are much less crazy than the Rocques."

"Are you staying here with your parents?" Logan asks curiously.

"No, they're too busy working so it's just me..." I trail off as I notice all of them get the same weird expression on their faces.

"You have your own place?" They all burst out at once.

"It's not that exciting. In fact, it's kinda lonely." I say and stare down at the ground, saddened by the thought of my empty apartment.

I glance back up at them right as they finish a silent exchange. James clears his throat, and I turn and look up at him. I get slightly mesmerized by his eyes, which are brown with just a slight amount of green in them, before he starts talking. "So every Friday night, we have a movie night, where we watch two movies. And we've decided that we'd like for you to join us."

They all stare at me expectantly for a few seconds. "It sounds great, I'd love to," I say and smile. "What time should I come over? And should I bring anything?"

"You can come over at about 6:30 for dinner," Kendall replies. "And bring you're favorite movie, a pillow, and a blanket."

"Alright," I say and stand up. I gather my things and look at the guys. "I'm going to head up to my room and get ready. I'll see you guys in a little bit."

I turn and start to walk back towards the elevator. I get to about halfway there, when I realize I don't know what apartment is theirs.

I turn around and start walking back towards the guys. I reach in my bag for my phone as I'm walking. "Hey, I forgot to ask, what room-" I stop as I glance up and see them all fighting.

"She's mine!" I hear Carlos yell. But then they notice me standing there. They freeze and we just stare at each other for a few seconds.

I clear my throat as it starts to get awkward. The guys step away from each other, evidently embarrassed. "Um, I don't know what apartment is yours," I say.

Kendall's face lights up as he realized that he didn't give that important detail. "Oh, it's 2J. Sorry about that," he says with a smile.

"Thanks. Bye guys, again," I say with a wave. I start walking away past the pool again, and I smile as I start to hear them bickering about me again. This should be an interesting night.

~BTR~

I take a deep breath as I stand in front of the door marked 2J. I knock and hear scuffling going on behind the door, and several thuds. Finally, the door opens, and James is standing there.

I glance past him and see Kendall, Carlos, and Logan in a pile on the floor. "Not cool, man!" Carlos shouts at James.

"Lauren, do come in," James says and steps to the side.

I walk in a look around at their brightly decorated apartment. Then my eyes land on the swirly slide. "You have a swirly slide!" I say as I drop my bag and start to run up the stairs. I get to the top and slide down. The guys are standing there laughing. "That is so awesome! This entire apartment is so cool."

Kendall walks over and links an arm with me. He walks us over to the kitchen, where I just now noticed there was someone standing there. "Mom, this is Lauren. You might not believe it, but she's Gustavo's niece!"

"Hello, Mrs. Knight. It's very nice to meet you," I say as I shake her hand. "Thanks for having me over for dinner."

"It's no problem at all. The guys explained how you're by yourself. So you can join us for dinner any time you want," she says with a smile.

"OMG you're Lauren Rocque!" I hear a girl shout from the direction of what appears to be their bedrooms. I look over and see a small girl walking over towards me. "I'm Katie, Kendall's sister. Can I have your autograph?"

"Sure," I say and go to grab the paper, but she won't let go. I yank the paper from her and hold it above my head where she can't reach this. "What's this?" I say as I read over it. "A contract saying that you're my manager, you get 60% of my pay, and I have to buy you you're own mansion." I hand the paper back to her. "Nice try, but I actually look at things before I sign them."

She gives me a mean look. "Darn it, I was so close." Then she stalks off to her room.

"Don't mind Katie," Mrs. Knight responds at my confused look. "She does that to everyone she meets who is remotely famous. Now, let's eat!"

We all sit down at the table and enjoy the dinner of what I learned to be "Fish Stick Friday". After we finish, Mrs. Knight starts to walk to her room, but she stops just before entering. "Lauren, if you like, you are more than welcome to stay the night. But if you don't, make sure the guys walk you home, alright?"

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Knight. I'll definitely keep that offer in mind." She smiles at me one more time before she enters her room.

I turn and see Carlos and Logan are choosing their spots on the couch; James is setting up a movie in the DVD player; and Kendall is walking over with several bowls of popcorn. They left a space open between Logan and Carlos, so I head over there and sit down. "So what movie are we watching?"

Kendall hands a bowl to me, and takes his spot on the other side of Carlos. "Well, it's Logan's turn to pick a movie, so he chose Scream 4. And then we'll watch whatever movie you brought."

My face drops when he says what movie we're watching. I absolutely cannot stand horror movies. "Do we have to watch that movie?" I say in a meek voice. It's quite obvious how terrified I am.

"What's the matter, Lauren? Can't handle a little scary movie?" Logan says tauntingly and I look over at him.

"Fine, it'll be your fault when I can't sleep later, and I come bothering you." I turn away from him, and situated my blanket so I'm comfortable. Then I start munching on my popcorn. "Let's just get this over with."

James presses play, and the movie starts. I sit there cowering behind my blanket, to terrified to eat my popcorn. The movie goes on, and I'm doing ok with not being too scared.

But then eventually the killer jumps out, and I scream as I flail around, sending my popcorn flying. I burrow my face into Carlos' back, trying to avoid watching the movie.

He puts an arm around me, and rubs my back, trying to comfort me. "Shhh, it's alright, Lauren. It's just a movie. You're safe." He whispers into my ear.

I stay like this for the rest of the movie, not watching most of it. But when curiosity would win the better of me and I would peek at the screen, I usually went back to hiding right away.

Finally, the movie ended, and I was able to come out from hiding behind Carlos. James stands up and stretches. "Alright, time to get pajamas on, before we watch the next movie."

The guys all stand up and start to walk to their rooms. I sit on the couch awkwardly, since I didn't bring any pj's. "The bathroom's over there," Kendall says and points to a door.

"Oh thanks, but I didn't bring any pj's because I didn't know I was going to stay the night."

James walks back over to the couch and grabs my hand. "C'mon, you can borrow a t-shirt and shorts from me," he says as he leads the way towards his room. I stop outside as he goes in and rummages through his dressers. After a minute, he comes back with a shirt and shorts. "Here you go."

"Thanks, James," I say as I take the clothes from him and head to the bathroom. I change into them, and notice they have a faint smell of cologne to them. I inhale the smell, and smile a bit: it's chocolate axe, my favorite cologne.

After a few seconds, I walk out of the bathroom, and see all of the guys are sitting on the couch waiting. I walk over and get my movie out of my bag. "Thanks again, James, for the clothes."

"It's no problem. So what movie are we watching next?" He replies with a dazzling smile.

I lose my train of thought temporarily, because of his smile. "Oh, um, I brought Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It's one of my all-time favorite movies."

Kendall hops off of the couch, and grabs the movie from me to put in the DVD player. As he's doing that, I sit down in my spot and get comfy. He walks back and the movie starts to play. I glance at Logan quickly, and notice that he has a bowl of popcorn. I reach over and grab it from him, and start eating. He gives me a look to say what was that for, and I respond with a shrug of my shoulders. "You made me dump my popcorn because you chose a scary movie. So it's mine now."

I turn back to the movie, enjoying the popcorn. After a little while, my eyes start to droop. And eventually, I fall asleep, happily surrounded by my new friends.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

"L-dog! Great to see you again," my uncle Gustavo says when he sees me enter the studio. Kelly is standing next to him, writing something down. I sigh about him using that nickname.

"Do you have to call me that?"

"Yes, I do. Because you are talent. And like it or not, all talent are dogs." He stands up and walks over to me. "Now, I am going to make you the next big superstar," he says. He holds up a pile of sheet music. "And I've got the perfect first song. It's catchy and danceable, and will surely help you start to make your rise to superstardom."

"But aren't I already on my way to being a star, by being in The Hunger Games?"

His face starts to turn red, and Kelly quickly grabs headphones and puts them on. "Don't ever mention those people who think they can be famous that way! The only real way to get famous in this town is through singing."

I cross my arms, unfazed by his outburst. "You're just jealous that dad has been more successful than you in the past ten years."

He starts shaking, and I hear a familiar voice speak as the door opens. "Alright, we're here like you asked."

The guys freeze when they see Gustavo. "Oh no," James whispers. "It's starting."

"Run, now!" Logan says and heads out the door. Carlos runs over to me and throws me over his shoulder, then takes off after Logan, Kendall, and James.

"Carlos, put me down!" I say as I hit his back.

"Sorry, can't do that. Trying to save your life," he responds.

I hear Gustavo shout, "Dogs!" and the ground starts shaking.

"Quick, in here," Kendall says as he opens up a random door. We all pile into the supply closet, and wait for Gustavo to run past.

After we can't hear him, Carlos sets me down. "What exactly did you do to make him so angry?"

"I just said that he was jealous of my dad for being more successful with directing. They don't really get along too well." I shrug my shoulders. "Then you guys showed up, Carlos threw me on his shoulders and took off running, and now we're here." I pause and look at Kendall. "Why exactly did you pick a supply closet?"

He shrugs, "I don't know, it was the closest room."

"You know he'll find us eventually," I say and sit down on a cardboard box. My phone beeps, signal I have a new text. I look at it and sigh. "Kelly says that it's safe to go back, and that Gustavo has calmed down."

We walk out and start heading down the hallway. I look at the posters, and see the one of Boys in the Attic. "Oh, I used to love BIA when I was younger! Kelly used to get me backstage passes to their concerts."

They guys give me a weird look. "What, I was five. They were four cute guys, and I had a crush on them."

"Well, we're four guys, who are in a band," James says. "Would you consider us cute?" He then makes a weird motion by his face.

I contemplate telling them what I think. I had always thought that they were attractive, but now that I have met them in person, I've realized that they are very hot.

I smile up at James. "Mayybbee." Then I start to walk away, leaving them all standing there confused.

"What kind of answer was that?" James shouts.

I continue down the hall, and hear them running to catch up. I turn the corner, and see Kelly and Gustavo standing there waiting. The guys run around the corner, and they scream when they see Gustavo.

"Guys, relax, you're not in trouble," Kelly tells them.

"L-dog, we're going to be working together for a while now. And if we're to get along, there are some things you're going to have to do."

"What did he just call her?" I hear Carlos whisper to the guys.

Gustavo snaps his head towards them. "Quiet, dogs." He turns back to me, and starts pacing. "Now, Lauren, the things you need to make sure you don't do. First, don't mention your dad if it has anything to do with his success as a director. Second, don't talk back. If you can do that, we should be able to get along just fine." He pauses briefly. "I hope."

I think about his requests, and reluctantly agree. "I guess I can try to not talk back."

"Good." He walks over and puts his arm around me. He turns to look at the guys. "Now dogs, this is my niece, Lauren. She's going to be my next big superstar."

"We actually already met her. In fact, she hung out with us last night," Kendall says with a smile.

"Oh then I guess I don't have to deal with awkward introductions," Gustavo says. "Now, let's just have Lauren sing her new song then."

"W-w-what? I have to sing right now? In front of everyone?" I've never had to sing in front of multiple people, and frankly, it was making me terrified.

"Yes, L-dog, you have to sing in front of all six of us. Honestly, if you're afraid of singing in front of this many people, you're not going to have fun singing in front of 50,000 people someday." He gives me a push towards the recording booth.

I hesitantly walk in, and stand in front of the mic, and put the headphones on. Kelly starts talking to me. "Ok, the music is on the stand for you. And just pretend that we aren't even here. You'll be fine."

I pick up the music and read the title. Bad Romance. I look over some of the lyrics, and it seems like it's a catchy and danceable song.

I look up and nod my head, letting Gustavo know I'm ready. The guys all give me thumbs up.

Gustavo hits a button on the control panel, and queues me to start singing.

I start, and pretend that I'm in my own world. Everything goes well, and then I get to the bridge of the song. I look up at James and see him smile at me, and give me a little thumbs up that the rest of the guys don't see. I smile back at him before looking back down at the music, with butterflies in my stomach.

I want your love, and I want your revenge.

I want your love, I don't wanna be friends.

The next part of the song is French, but I understand what I'm singing since I took French for several years.

I finish the song, and the guys start clapping. I look at Gustavo, waiting for his response. He waits a few seconds before speaking. "Lauren, good job for your first time. Let's just run it a few more times, and then you'll be done for the day."

I sing the song two more times, and then we finish. I walk out of the recording booth, and the guys all start talking at once.

"Dogs, be quiet!" Gustavo says and holds up his hands. "Now, L-dog, great job today. Next time you need to be here is Monday morning. I'll see you then."

I start to walk out of the room, and the guys start to fall into step next to me. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where do you dogs think you're going? We've got work to do on your second album."

I turn around and see all of the guys are sad. "Guys, it's ok. We can hang out later when you're done. Just text me whenever you're done." I smile at them and turn back around to leave.

I walk out of Rocque Records, and grab my iPhone out of my bag. I put my music on shuffle as I start walking the short distance to the Palmwoods, and Oh Yeah starts playing.

I start dancing along to the song, not caring about the weird looks people are giving me. I make it back to the Palmwoods just as the song ends.

I start making my way across the lobby to the elevator so I can change. A girl wearing what looks like a prom dress storms in front of me and slaps me in the face. "How could you? You were my best friend! And you had to pick Chris? Chris, my boyfriend, of all people?" She then walks away crying.

I clutch my face where she slapped me. "What just happened?" I say to myself.

"That would be Camille you just met. She's the method actress queen of the Palmwoods," Katie says as she walks up to me.

"Does she always go around slapping people she doesn't know?"

"Yeah. Don't feel bad, Kendall gets slapped all the time." She pauses as she adjusts the bag on her shoulder. "Are you coming over again tonight?"

"I don't know. Depends on what the guys want to do after they get done over at Rocque Records."

A little boy with red hair runs up to Katie. "Hurry, help me hide!"

Katie starts to search for a hiding spot, and drags the boy to a spot. "I'll see you, Lauren!"

I give a short wave bye, and start to go towards the elevator, again. I swear, everyone in this town is so bizarre.

I make it up to my room, and change into my favorite bikini. I grab my copy of The Hunger Games, a towel, and my phone, then head back down to the pool.

I sit down in one of the chairs, and start to read the book. I read for about an hour, and I get so into reading it, that I don't notice the person standing next to me until they clear their throat.

I look up and see Logan. "Oh hey, Logan. When did you get back?"

"Just a few minutes ago. I noticed you were down here, so I figured I would stop and say hi."

"Oh ok." I look around, and don't see any sign of the other guys. "Where are the others?"

"Gustavo wanted to work with them some more." He glances down at the book in my hand. "Oh I love that book! It's one of my favorites. What part are you at?"

"I'm where I die." Logan looks at me with a confused look. "The part where Glimmer dies. Remember, I play her in the movie?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot. That must have been fun to act out."

I laugh and smile at him. "Yeah it was a lot of fun. It was cool learning how to use a bow and arrow, too."

We sit talking for a while about the book and other things. Before I know it, around an hour has gone by, just talking. "I have to go back up to my apartment," I say with a frown.

"Do you want to come over for dinner again?" he asks. "I don't want you to have to be by yourself."

"Thanks, Logan, but I don't know if I'll make it. I really need to unpack all of my stuff."

I gather my things, and stand up.

"Wait, Lauren, before you go, I wanted to ask you something."

I smile at him. "Sure. What is it?"

He rubs the back of his neck, and looks down at the ground briefly, before looking back at me. "Well, I was wondering if-"

He gets cut off by James yelling, "Lauren, there you are!" I turn towards him and wave, and he starts walking over towards us.

I look back at Logan. "What were you going to ask?"

"Never mind," he says with a dismayed look. "I've got to go up to the apartment to finish a science project. I'll see you."

"Bye," I say to Logan, as James stops next to me. "Hey, what's up?" I say as I smile and look at him.

He flashes a brilliant smile. "Not much. I was actually going to see what you're doing tonight, and see if you're going to hang out with us."

"I would, but I really need to unpack all of my stuff." He looks sad when he hears this. "But you can come chill in my apartment with me if you want while I unpack."

His face brightens up after I say this. "Sure. When are you going there?"

"I was actually just about to head up before you got here. So let's go now, I guess."

We go up to my apartment, 3M, and when I open the door and walk in, James takes a gasp of surprise. "Pretty nice place, isn't it?" I ask as I walk in, placing my stuff down on the counter. "But I personally think yours is cooler. Mine is so plain. But maybe it's because I haven't had time to decorate."

He walks in and tries to make his way around boxes, but ends up falling. "Oh are you alright?" I run over to where he fell, and help him up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he says while still holding my hand after getting up. I stare up at him, and he starts to lean in. I turn away, letting go of his hand, and walk back to the kitchen area.

James clears his throat, and walks over. He sits down at the counter. "So you have to unpack all of these boxes?" he asks, while gesturing at the boxes.

"Yep. I pretty much brought all of the stuff from my house here, which is quite a lot of things." I go in the fridge and grab two cans of soda, and give one to him. I lean against the counter across from him.

"Oh you make it seem like such a hard life, having super rich and famous parents, and having so many things." He starts to take a sip and I smack him lightly on the arm. "Hey, that wasn't nice!"

"Well don't imply that I'm a spoiled brat, because I'm not. Now, you're going to make yourself useful, and make us dinner."

He gives me a concerned look. "How am I supposed to do that?"

I sigh and go into the freezer. I grab a box of chicken fingers, and drop them on the counter in front of him. "Just follow the directions on the box. And try not to burn yourself."

I walk over to one of the boxes, and start to carry it into my room. I hear him muttering to himself, "Ok, I can do this," and I can't help but smile.

I unpack the boxes of my clothes for about a half hour, just barely able to fit them all in my closet. I start walking out of my room, when I smell something burning.

I run to the kitchen, and see James pulling the tray out of the oven, with several burnt chicken fingers on it. "Sorry, I tried. But I've never actually cooked before."

I grab a pan holder and take the tray from him. I get the chicken fingers onto a plate, and set the tray in the sink. "It's alright. You did an ok job for your first time cooking. And I'm sure they'll taste fine."

He smiles at this. "So did you get anywhere with unpacking?"

"I actually did," I say as I get out paper plates. I divide the chicken fingers onto two plates, and hand one to him. "I managed to fit all of my clothes into the closet, which is a remarkable accomplishment."

I take a bite of the chicken, and try not to grimace at the taste. It's really bad. But James looks at me expectantly. "Oh it's good," I say, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

He tries a piece, and doesn't do a good job at hiding his distaste.

"Let's just order pizza."

"Sounds good," he replies, throwing the chicken in the garbage.

~BTR~

I plop down on the couch, taking a bite of the pizza. "This is so much better than those chicken fingers."

"I know, right?" James says as he sits next to me. "Sorry for ruining dinner."

"I really don't mind, it was just frozen chicken." I turn on the TV, and start going through the guide. "Oh look! Finding Nemo is on! We are so watching it."

He starts laughing and I look over at him. "What?"

"I just think it's so great to know someone else who loves the old Disney movies too," he says and smiles.

I smile back, and can't help but notice how the smile lights up his face, and gives his eyes a little sparkle to them. My breath catches; he is so attractive.

I glance over at the clock, and see that it's already 11:30. "So are you going to stay over here tonight?" I say. "It just makes sense, since it's so late. And there's a bedroom that you can use, so you wouldn't have to sleep on the couch."

"Sounds great." He flashes a smile, and I get butterflies in my stomach.

We watch the movie for a while, talking about some of our interests and other random things. I start getting sleepy, and I lean against his shoulder. Soon though, I'm asleep, dreaming about fish and burnt chicken fingers.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

I stare out of the apartment window at the pouring rain. "This sucks! I wanted to go do stuff outside today."

I turn and look back at the guys. "Now what are we supposed to do?"

Kendall looks up from his phone. He stands up and starts to get shoes on. "I don't know what you're going to do, but James and I have to go over to the studio."

James face drops as he here's this. "What? But it's our day off."

"Yeah well Kelly just told me we have to, so let's go." He motions to James to get up, and he slowly drags his feet over to his shoes. They leave the apartment, and James slams the door.

"Ooo, tough luck for them." Carlos says as he slides down the swirly slide.

"Looks like it's just the three of us today," I say and plop down on the couch next to Logan.

"Actually, it's just you and Carlos," he responds. He holds up the book he's been reading. "I'm gonna spend the day reading this. Did you know that from a single molecule of glucose, a cell can make up to 36 ATP through cellular respiration?"

"You do know that I don't care, right?" I answer him.

He stands off and starts to storm to his room. "Fine, I'll just go read in my room, since you guys don't appreciate the intricate details of cellular respiration!" He shouts and then slams his door.

"What's his problem?" I ask Carlos as he sits down next to me.

"No idea. So what do you like to do on miserable days like this?"

I contemplate this for a minute. "Well, I like to go shopping, and maybe see a movie?" It starts to turn into a question as I see his face light up.

He jumps up off of the couch. "Yes! Let's go. I love shoe shopping."

I laugh and stand up, grabbing my bag. "Alright then let's go shopping."

We walk down to the lobby, and as we pass the main desk, Carlos stops walking. I turn around to see what the problem is. "What's up?"

"How are we going to get there?"

I smile at him. "Don't worry about that. I've got it covered." I turn around and start walking. I say over my shoulder to him, "It'll be better if I just show you."

We walk out the front doors, and I open my umbrella before continuing to the parking lot. I make my way over to the bright pink Porsche that's sitting there. I stop next to it and pat the hood affectionately.

Carlos' jaw drops. "That's your car?"

"Why the tone of disbelief?" I get out the keys and unlock the doors. I open my door and start to get in, then realize that he's still standing there staring at it. "Are you going to get in, or just stand there all day getting soaked?"

He runs to the passenger side and gets in right away. He drags his hands over the leopard seat covers. "Whoa. Now this is a nice car."

"I know," I say and smile. "It was my sixteenth birthday present."

"Sweet. I wish I had a car," he says, and starts to look a bit sad.

"Don't worry, you'll get a car eventually. And I'm sure you'll get a super awesome car."

He looks up and smiles. "Really?"

"Of course. Now, let's get to the mall."

I put the car into drive, and pull out of the parking lot. I start to make my way to the mall, but soon get stopped at a stop light.

I take this time to turn the radio on. And the first thing I hear is Boyfriend playing. "Oh I love this song!" I say and turn the volume up louder. I start to sing along as the light changes green.

I glance over at Carlos, and see him smiling at me, and trying to not laugh.

I frown as I turn back to the road. "What, do I sound really bad?"

He laughs at this. "No, I just think it's so weird hearing me singing, on the radio. And it's kinda funny that my new best friend apparently knows all of the lyrics."

"Well you know that I've been a huge fan since the start. So of course I know all of the words to every song." I look around before turning into the mall parking lot.

"Well not for long, since our second album is going to be out soon."

Before responding, I pick a spot and pull the car in. I turn it off, and look over at him. "Do I get to hear the songs before everyone else?"

"Nope, you have to wait like everyone else."

I frown at him and give my puppy dog face. "Not even a little bit?"

He tries to look serious, but he can't keep a straight face, and soon we both start laughing. "Alright, maybe you can hear a few songs."

"Ok sounds good." I open up the door, and start to make a run towards the building. Carlos follows right after me.

Carlos opens the door and holds it for me. I enter the building, and look around. Carlos walks in and stands next to me.

"So where to first?" he asks.

"No idea. I kinda want to get some things to decorate my apartment with, maybe buy some dresses, and of course get some shoes. Do you want to get anything?"

We pass by several stores, and then I see Forever 21. "Let's definitely go in there!" I say and start dragging him over.

I walk in and gaze around at all of the clothes. "Oh, I've missed this store..."

I start to look at all the dresses, grabbing several to try on. Carlos tries to pick some out for me. "How about this one?" he says while holding out a hot pink dress with tons of ruffles on it. He has a goofy smile on his face, showing that he's joking.

I laugh at the dress. "Where did you even find that? It's so ugly!" I walk over to the rack with the dresses and get an idea.

I grab another dress, and hand it to Carlos. He looks at it confused. "What's this for?"

"We are going to try them on.''

His face drops and I can't help but giggle at him. "No way am I wearing that."

I give him my puppy dog face. "Please?"

"Nope. No way." He looks at me for a few seconds. "OK just this once."

"Yes!" I take his hand and drag him to the dressing rooms. I push him into a room and go into my own.

I get the dress on and laugh at how ridiculous I look. I walk out and wait for Carlos. "Are you almost done?"

"I am not going out there wearing this!"

"You have to," I say and get my phone out. I get the camera ready.

"Fine." He walks out pouting and I quickly take a picture of him. "Hey, not cool!" He tries to grab the phone from me, but I laugh and hold it away from him.

"C'mon, let's get a picture together!" He grudgingly agrees, and we take a couple pictures in the mirror.

"Can I take this off now?"

"Yes, you can," I say and turn back into my dressing room. I try a few on, and then walk out.

"You ready?" Carlos asks as we walk through the store.

"Yep." We go over to the register, and I hand the cashier my dresses.

She looks at me and Carlos, and gives us a weird look. "Have I seen you before?"

I shrug, "Maybe. Are you a fan of The Hunger Games, or Big Time Rush?"

"Yeah I love THG. Why?" She looks at me more closely, and realization hits her. "Oh I know you! You're Lauren Rocque, and you're Glimmer in the movie!"

"Yep, that's me," I say and smile.

"Wow, I never thought I would meet a star of the movie at work. I hate to bother you, but do you think I could get your autograph?"

"Of course!" I get out a pen from my purse and she hands me a sheet of paper. I sign it and give it back to her. "Here you go."

"Thank you so much."

I smile and hand her my credit card to pay for the dresses. I sign the receipt and she hands me the bag.

"What about me? Do you recognize me?" Carlos bursts out.

"No, I'm sorry, I don't. Are you famous, too?" She asks.

"Yeah, I'm in Big Time Rush," he says proudly.

"Oh. I don't really listen to your music. Sorry."

I start to drag him away. "Have a nice day!" I say to the cashier.

As we walk out of the store, Carlos frowns. "How come she didn't recognize me? I'm famous."

"Tough luck, buddy," I say and pat his shoulder. "Maybe next time."

"How did she not know who I am, but knew you? You're movie isn't even out yet!"

I give him a look, and he stops talking right away. I look away and smile. I see a store that is just all posters. "Carlos, we have to go in there! It'll be perfect for decorating my apartment."

"Ok let's go."

We walk in and Carlos goes to go look at some posters. I start looking at all of them. I notice that they have movie posters for all 8 Harry Potter movies. "I am so getting all of them..." I mumble.

I pick out a few more posters, and I glance up from the boxes of posters. "No. Way."

I quickly walk over to the cardboard cutouts. And standing there are my four new best friends. I'm totally buying one. I grab one of BTR, and I find one of Harry Potter and grab that too.

I walk over to the counter to cash out and hand the cashier my stuff. Carlos walks over. "So what'd you get?"

"I got a bunch of Harry Potter posters, a Justin Bieber one so I can color all over it with sharpie, and a Lady Gaga poster." I hand my credit card to the cashier, and sign the receipt. I grab the items and turn back to Carlos.

"Oh, and that," I say as I point to the cardboard cutout.

"Look, it's me!" Carlos says loudly as he walks over. He stands next to himself and gives a thumbs up.

I laugh and take a picture real quick. But then I hear a shrill shout.

"Oh my god! It's Carlos of Big Time Rush!"

"Carlos, run, now!" We run out of the store, and I start to head towards Macy's. I swerve between people, with Carlos trailing right behind me, and a growing group of fan girls not far behind us.

"In here, quickly!" I say to Carlos. We run into the store, and I go to the hats and scarves. I toss him a hat and scarf, and grab one each for myself.

Carlos puts them on, and I start searching through my bag quickly. I find my two pairs of sunglasses, and hand my aviators to Carlos before putting my Dolce and Gabbana glasses on myself.

"Wear these. Don't talk unless directly spoken to. And if you do, talk in a British accent. I'll take care of this. And just follow my lead."

He nods his head, and we turn to the display, acting like we're looking. The group of girls runs up to us, and one of the girls shouts at us, "Are you Carlos of Big Time Rush?"

We turn around, and I start to weave together a story. "No, this is my boyfriend Ramon, and I am Janet," I say in my best British accent.

Another girl speaks up. "But I could have sworn he was Carlos."

"No, sorry to disappoint you, but we're not superstars. We're just an average British couple, spending the week in America for our anniversary."

The girls start to believe me, and some even leave. But one of the girls is staring intently at Carlos. "I don't believe you."

"Sorry, girls, but I'm not this Carlos you think I am," he says in a really good British accent. "Now, if you don't mind, my girlfriend and I would like to resume shopping. Sorry about the confusion. Good day."

He then holds my hand and walks away from the girls. I glance back, and see them all leaving, rather dejected. "Coast is clear!"

Carlos takes off his scarf and hugs me. "That was brilliant, Lauren! How did you come up with a story that easily?"

I smile at him. "I have two parents who are in the acting business. I've learned a few things from them, like improv."

"Well that was amazing," he says and smiles. "You probably just saved me from a fan girl attack."

"I could have taken them," I say and grab the hat from him. I go back to the rack and find a fedora for him, and a cute beret for me. "I'm gonna buy these for us to wear out. I don't want you getting recognized again."

We walk over to the counter and I quickly pay for them. We put the hats back on. "Do you want to head back? I've had enough excitement for one day."

"I agree," he says. He holds his arm out for me, and I loop mine through before we start walking. "Now let's just hope that we can make it through the mall without being recognized."

"It's your fault, you jinxed it when we were in Forever 21."

"Ok, maybe it was my fault. But just wait until you're as famous as I am. You'll have fan encounters like this all the time."

"Please, my fans won't be teenage girls who want to date me. My fans will be sophisticated Hunger Games fans."

He scoffs at this. "Every celebrity has crazed fans."

We pass by the poster store and walk a bit quicker, in case any fans are lurking. We get to the door and outside without any problems.

"Yes, we made it out alive!" Carlos says happily.

"Yep," I say and smile at him. "Now, back to the Palmwoods!" I shout, and start skipping to my car.

Carlos laughs and runs after me. I get to my car right before him, and open up the trunk. I throw my stuff in and close it.

Carlos is standing there waiting for me. "Lauren, I had a lot of fun today," he says in an unusually serious tone. "Thanks for spending the day with me."

"You're welcome, Carlos. I really had a blast. And it was nice to get to spend some time with just you." I start to walk to the driver side door, and unlock the car. "Alright, that's enough of being serious. Let's go home."

He smiles and runs to his door and gets in right away. I start the car, and turn the radio on, and Ke$ha is playing. "Yes, I love Tik Tok."

Carlos laughs and looks at me. "So do I! They guys don't understand my love for this song."

"How could you not love Ke$ha?"

I turn up the volume and put the windows down. I pull out of my spot, and head out of the parking lot, singing along to the song with Carlos.

The short ride home we sing along, and get some weird looks from people in other cars.

We get back to the Palmwoods, and I grab all of my stuff. We start heading through the lobby.

We stand waiting for the elevator. "So are you going to come back to my apartment and hang with us?"

"Of course! As long as it's alright with Mama Knight."

Carlos smiles, and we step onto the elevator. "She told us to invite you over all the time, and that she doesn't want you being by yourself every night."

"She's so nice. I wish my parents were like her..."

Carlos looks at me with a sympathetic smile. "Why?"

The doors open, and we step off. We start slowly walking to 2J. I pause before telling him. "When I was growing up, my parents were never really around much, because they were too busy being famous and successful. So we don't really get along too well."

We stop in front of his apartment. He gives me a tight hug. "It's alright, Lauren. Because you can always stay here with us. You're like family now."

"Thanks, Carlos." I smile at him as I pull away. He opens up the door, and the guys glance up quickly from their video game.

"Hey, how was shopping?" James asks as he sets down his controller and stands up.

"It was good. We almost got attacked by crazy fan girls, thanks to Carlos."

Kendall gets a wide-eyed look. "How did you get out of that? I always get attacked and can never get away!"

"She made up an awesome story!" Carlos says cheerfully. "Yeah she pretended that we were a British couple named Ramon and Janet, and we're spending the week on vacation here. Lauren even had the British accent. And we just put some hats and sunglasses on."

"Sweet, maybe we should just bring Lauren with us whenever we go out so that she can protect us from fans," James says and flashes a smile at me.

And I swear my heart starts beating faster from that one smile. I smile back at him. "Sure, I'm up for some improv any day."

I plop my bags down and walk over to the couch and sit down. I close my eyes, trying to relax a bit.

But I hear the rustle of plastic bags, followed by Kendall's confused voice. "Uh, Lauren?"

"Yeah?" I say without looking over at him.

"Why did you buy a life-size cardboard cut-out of us?"

I shrug. "Eh, I thought it would be funny, seeing as you're now my friends."

I feel someone sit down next to me, and I open my eyes to see James.

"You don't have to admit it," he starts to say. "But I know you just wanted to be able to stare at us all the time."

I smack him lightly. "That's definitely what it is," I say, full of sarcasm.

"So are you going to stay her for the night?" Logan asks as he finally looks up from his book.

"Yeah, I think so." I smile up at all of them, so glad that they're my friends.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

I open up the apartment door, humming my new song Freak the Freak Out. Gustavo and I had been working on it for a couple hours.

I hear someone playing some chords on the guitar. I glance at the couch, and see the blond hair of Kendall.

I start walking over to the couch, and he still hasn't noticed me. So as I get to where he's sitting, I swing myself over the back of the couch and land next to him. "Hi Kendall!"

He jumps and hits his guitar. "Jeez, Lauren, a little heads up would be nice next time."

I laugh at him and smile. "That would be no fun!"

He gives me a look as if to say, "Really?"

"So how was recording with Gustavo this morning? I didn't feel any earthquakes so I'm guessing it went well."

"It went great! My new song is awesome!" I smile, "Wait 'til you hear it!"

He smiles at me, "Can't you just sing it for me know?"

I think about it for a couple seconds, and decide why not. I motion for his guitar, and he hesitantly hands it to me. "Oh relax, I'm not going to break it."

I start playing the chords of the song, and start singing. "Are you listening? Hear me talk, hear me sing. Open up the door, is it less, is it more?-" I cut off as I hit a wrong note. "Ah, I haven't played the guitar in so long."

I hand him back the guitar. "That sounded great. Do you have your own guitar?"

I shake my head no. "I used to when I was younger."

Kendall stands up from the couch and set his guitar down. He holds a hand out for me. "C'mon, we're going to go somewhere."

I grab his hand and he pulls me up. He starts leading me out of the apartment and towards the elevator. "Do I get to know where we're going?"

He looks back over his shoulder, a smile on his face. "Nope, it's completely a surprise."

I sigh as we wait for the elevator. The doors open and we step in. It starts to move down. "So do you have some way of us getting there, or are we going to have to take my car?"

The doors open and we walk into the lobby. Kendall turns and looks at me. "I've got that covered. No need for the flashy pink car."

I gasp, "Don't insult Betsey!"

He laughs as we start walking out the door. "You named your car. Really?"

"Yes. You haven't named you're car?"

He takes a minute to respond as we walk past cars, including mine. "No, because I don't have a car to name."

"Then how are we getting there..." I trail off as Kendall stops in front of a sleek motorcycle.

"You have a motorcycle?" I say, hardly believing my eyes. "You're mom lets you ride that?"

He shrugs his shoulders as he grabs two helmets out of the back. "Gustavo bought it for me, since he wants me to continue being seen as the 'bad boy' of the band." He hands me one of the helmets and he puts his own on.

"My uncle actually did something nice?" I ask and walk over to the motorcycle. Kendall sits down, and turns it on.

"Yeah he did. So are you going to get on, or what?"

I hesitantly sit down behind him. "Kendall?" I ask in a shaky voice. "There's no way I'm going to fall of this, right?"

He turns to look at me. "You'll be perfectly fine, Lauren. I promise." I nod my head and he turns around. "You might want to hold on."

"Why would I need to-" I scream a little as the motorcycle starts moving, and I wrap my arms around Kendall tightly. I feel him chuckle as he pulls out of the parking lot, and starts going faster.

I bury my face into his back, trying to block out all of the buildings speeding past. We slow down to a stop, and I look up to see we're at a stoplight.

Kendall looks over his shoulder at me. "Is it really that bad?"

"Yes. Yes it is."

He smiles and chuckles lightly. "Well we're almost there. Two minutes, tops."

He turns back around as the light changes to green, and starts moving again. I tighten my grip around his waist, and try not to look at everything passing by.

Kendall turns into a parking lot, and picks a spot. He turns the motorcycle off, but I still keep my tight grip on him. "Lauren, you can let go now, we're here."

I let go of him and blush a bit. "Oh yeah, sorry..." I look at the building and see it's a guitar store. "Why are we here?"

I look at him to see him smiling. "We're getting you a guitar."

"Seriously?" He nods his head yes. "Thank you so much, Kendall!"

I hop of the motorcycle and start walking to the building. Kendall follows right behind me.

I walk in the store, and look around in wonder at all the guitars. There's a whole variety of guitars, different colors and shapes.

The guy at the cash register looks up when he hears the door open. "Oh hey Kendall. Back again?"

I start walking among the guitars as I hear Kendall respond to him. "Yeah but this time I'm here for my friend Lauren to get a guitar."

I look at all of the electric guitars, none of them really standing out. They're all too flashy.

Kendall walks up to me. "Find anything you like?"

I shake my head no as I continue into the next row. "None of the guitars are speaking to me, saying they're the one."

I pause to look over at him. "Maybe you're looking at the wrong type of guitar. When I look at you, I don't think of you as a rocker, so an electric guitar might not be the one for you."

He starts walking towards the other side of the store, and motions for me to follow. "Maybe you would like an acoustic guitar?"

I look at the guitars, and know right away that the one for me is among them. I glance at them, until my eyes are drawn back to a certain one. I walk over and pick it up. I play a couple chords.

"This is the one," I say with a smile and look at Kendall. I look back at the guitar, and start to play Worldwide.

I mess up after a few notes, and frown. "Here, let me help you," Kendall says. He walks behind me, and places his hands over mine. He guides my fingers to the right chords.

He stops, and we stand there, I turn my head to look at him. He leans in and kisses me.

I stand there shocked for a second, but then I start to kiss him back. We pull apart after a minute.

"Lauren, I really like you a lot. I don't know if you feel the same, and it's ok if you don't, but I just wanted you to know."

I sigh and walk over to one of the benches in the store. I sit down, and pat the space next to me for Kendall. I turn to look at him after he sits down.

"Kendall, you're a really great guy. But, I just don't know if I feel the same way as you do. I mean, we just met..."

"I get it, Lauren. You need time to figure out if you feel the same." He looks away. "Any chance that you might ever give me a chance?"

I put my hand under his chin and gently turn his face so he's looking at me. I lean in and give him a light kiss. "Of course, Kendall," I say after we pull apart. "You're honestly one of the sweetest guys I know."

A smile lights up his face. "Really?"

I smile back at him. "Really. And I think I might try giving you a chance."

He gives me a quick kiss. Then he hugs me tightly. "Thank you so much, Lauren. You won't regret this."

"I'm sure I won't. But can we just keep this a secret for now? At least until I figure out how I feel for sure."

He stands up and holds his hand out for me. I grab it and he pulls me up. "Of course," he says as he pushes a piece of my hair back. "Now, let's go pay for your guitar."

We walk up to the counter and I hand the guitar to the cashier. He rings it up, and I start to reach in my bag to pay, but Kendall stops me.

"Lauren, I'll pay for it," he says as he hands his credit card over.

"Are you sure? You really don't have to."

He signs the receipt, and looks over at me and smiles. "But I want to."

Kendall turns back to the cashier. "Dustin, can we pick this up later? We're on the motorcycle now."

Dustin nods his head. "Sure, I'll hold on to it for you. See ya."

We walk out of the store, and head over to Kendall's motorcycle. "So, where to now?" he asks.

I shrug, "I don't know, do you want to just head back to the Palmwoods?"

"Sure, whatever you want to do." He smiles and gets on the motorcycle.

I get on behind him, and put my helmet on. I wrap my arms around him now, prepared for the ride this time.

Kendall starts it, and we start heading back to the Palmwoods. I try to actually look around on the way back, and realize that it's actually pretty cool.

We make it back, and I'm smiling as I get off of the motorcycle. "You know, that was actually pretty fun."

We start walking back into the building. "I told you it's not that bad!"

We step onto the elevator, and start to go to his floor. "Well, I'm going to go grab the keys to my mom's car, and then go get your guitar. I'll see you later." The doors open, and he gives me a quick kiss before walking off.

I go up to my floor, and sigh as I walk to my apartment. Kendall is such a sweet guy, but I just don't know if I like him as a potential boyfriend.

I open my apartment door and walk in, avoid the boxes. I grab my phone and decide to get some advice. I send a quick text message, and Carlos responds right away.

L: Hey, I need some advice. Can you come up to my apartment?

C: Sure, be there in a few.

I walk over to the couch and plop down, waiting for Carlos to get here. After a minute, there's a knock on the door. I get up and go to the door. I open it and see Carlos standing there.

"You rang?" He says with a smile.

"Good, you're here. I need some major advice."

He walks in and I close the door. "Sure, what's the problem?"

I sit down on the couch and he sits next to me. "Ok, so Kendall and I went to the guitar store today, and while we were there, he kissed me."

He gasps lightly. "Did you kiss him back?"

I nod. "I did. But the thing is, I'm not sure if I feel that way about him."

He gives me a weird look, then smiles. "There's someone else, isn't there?"

I blush and turn away. "Maybe..."

He nudges me lightly. "C'mon, Lauren, you can tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone."

I look back at him and see him smiling expectantly. "Ok, so I kinda maybe might be starting to like James."

He gets a big goofy smile on his face. "I knew it! You guys would be so cute together. You should definitely try to pursue the possibility of you guys dating."

"Yeah, well what am I supposed to do about Kendall?" I ask exasperated. I stand up and start to pace in front of the couch. "He is such a sweet guy, and any girl would be lucky to have him like her. I just don't think I like him the same way, but I told him I would give him a chance and see if I maybe do start to like him. And now that I'm thinking about it, I realize that I just don't think he's the guy for me. But I don't want to break his heart!" I stop and stand right in front of Carlos. "What should I do?"

He stands up and puts his hands on my shoulders. "Lauren, relax." I sigh and look away. "Look at me. Try going on a couple dates with him. You never know, you might start to like him. And if you don't, just tell him. I know Kendall, and I'm sure he'll understand. And at least you can say that you tried to give him a chance. The feelings just might not be there."

I hug him tightly. "Thanks, Carlos. You really are great at giving advice."

He pulls away and smiles at me. "Anytime you need advice, just let me know. I'll help. Besides, that's what friends are for." He glances at the door, and looks back at me. "Now, I'm gonna go before Kendall gets back. He might take it the wrong way if he sees me here with you."

"Yeah that's a good idea." Carlos starts walking to the door. He opens it, and before he walks out, I stop him. "Carlos, thanks again."

He smiles, and then leaves, closing the door behind him.

I plop back down on the couch, and turn the TV on. MTV comes on, and I'm about to switch the channel before I hear something that makes me stop. "And in other news, does Kendall Knight of Big Time Rush have a new girlfriend? Stay tuned to find out!"

I sit up alert. This is too much of a coincidence. Could it really be about me? Or is it too soon? Then again, gossip travels so quickly in this town.

I contemplate this during the commercial, and it gets back to the show. I turn the volume up, not wanting to miss any word.

"So does Kendall of the band Big Time Rush have a new girlfriend? These pictures of him taken earlier today sure seem like it." A picture of us walking out of the guitar store pops up on the screen.

I hear a knock on the door, and shout, "Just come in, it's open!"

On the screen, a couple pictures flash by, including one of me hiding my face while on the motorcycle. "Hey what's up?" Kendall asks, but I shush him.

"The girl seen with him is rising star Lauren Rocque. She's in the upcoming movie The Hunger Games, and she's also signed on at Rocque Records."

Kendall sits down next to me, and stares at the screen shocked. "What the hell?" He says quietly.

"So is there big time love forming between Kendall and Lauren?" I turn the TV off, not wanting to hear anymore.

"So apparently MTV thinks we're dating," I say as I turn to look at Kendall. He has a shocked look on his face. "Don't you just love how quickly gossip spreads in this town?"

He scoffs and stands up. "Sometimes I really hate this town, and all of the crazy people who like to make up stories about things that might not even be true!"

I sigh, "Kendall, there's nothing you can do about it. So there's no point in getting all mad."

"You're right." He walks over to the table and grabs a guitar case, and his sitting next to it. "Well here's your guitar. And I figured I would bring mine over so I can teach you some songs."

"Cool, sounds like fun," I say as he hands me my new guitar. I open up the case and see it sitting there shining. "It's so pretty..."

I look up to see Kendall smiling at me. "It is a nice guitar," he says. He grabs his guitar, and gets ready to play. "Ok so what song do you want to learn first?"

"Well I was thinking maybe you could teach me one of your songs?" I blush and smile slightly.

He laughs lightly and smiles. "Sure. How about Boyfriend?"

I nudge him and laugh. "You would pick that song."

He smirks and winks at me. He starts to play the opening, and then stops so I can repeat what he played.

Kendall teaches me a couple songs for a while. After we finish, he stands up. "I had a lot of fun today, Lauren."

"Yeah, me too," I say as we walk over to the door.

We pause, Kendall with his hand on the doorknob. He leans in, and gives me a sweet kiss.

I pull away and sigh. "Kendall, listen. You're a really nice guy, but...

"But you just don't feel the same way. I could tell when we kissed." He looks away sadly.

"I'm so sorry, Kendall. But the spark just wasn't there. But just so you know, you're still one of my best friends."

He looks up and gives me a half smile. "I understand. It's because there's someone else isn't there?" I nod my head.

He looks away and says mostly to himself, "Damn it, why does James always get the girls?"

"How did you know it's him?"

"I can tell just by the way you look at him." He turns and opens the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Kendall," I say and close the door behind him.

I go back to the couch, and gently put my guitar away. I sit down and sigh, feeling horrible. I didn't want to have to hurt Kendall's feelings. But as cliché as it sounds, I just didn't see fireworks when we kissed.

I look over the back of the couch at all of the boxes that still need to be unpacked. I get up, deciding that I need to unpack now, or it will never get done.

I sit down in front of a box that says 'fragile' on the outside. I open it and pull out the bubble wrap, to find all of the pictures that were in my room. I look at the first one and see me and my best friend Rachel, from the first time we went to a red carpet event. I smile, remembering how worried our parents were to have us be in such expensive dresses.

I take out a few more pictures, and start to carry them into my room. I hang a couple up on my wall, and some go on the dresser.

I walk back out to the living room, and hear a knock on the door. I navigate around boxes without tripping, and open up the door.

James is standing there, leaning against the door frame. He's wearing a thin t-shirt and swim trunks, evidently having just been at the pool. The shirt is tight enough that I can see his muscles.

My breath catches as I look at him.

"Hello, Lauren. How are you on this fine day?"

"Oh um, I uh, I'm great," I stutter out. I blush and look away. "Um, do you want to come in? I'm not really doing anything exciting, I'm just unpacking some more."

"I don't care if you're doing the most boring thing, I'll gladly spend time with you," he says as he starts to walk in. I blush at his comment.

"So what did you do today?" he asks as he sits down by the counter.

"Well, Kendall and I went to the guitar store today and I got a guitar. And then he taught me some songs."

He hops off the stool and walks over to the case and looks at the guitar. "It's nice. Can I hear you play something?"

"Maybe later," I say as I walk over to him. "But for now, you're going to help me unpack."

I move him over to one of the boxes. Then I go back to the one I had been unpacking. I pull out more pictures, and can't help but smile, looking at all of the memories.

I pull out the last picture, and start to tear up a bit. I smile, thinking about when it was taken.

"Was that when you were younger?" James asks while looking over my shoulder.

I jump a bit, not realizing he was there. "Yeah, it is. I was six at the time. It was when my parents had more time to spend with me."

I look over at him, and he embraces me in a tight hug. I lean on his shoulder, fitting perfectly against him.

We stay like that for a minute, and then he pulls away slightly. He leans in a gives me a quick kiss. But in that kiss is so much emotion that can't be expressed in words. "Lauren, you know that you can talk to me whenever you need to."

I nod my head, untrusting what I might say if I open my mouth. I move away from him, blushing like crazy, barely believing he kissed me.

I stand up, and start to move to the kitchen. "So, um, what do you want for dinner?"

I glance back over at him, and see him still sitting there, leaning back on his arms. He shrugs, "Whatever you want is fine with me."

I start looking through my take-out menus. "I don't really feel like cooking..." I spot the menu for my favorite Chinese restaurant, and my mouth starts watering at the thought of egg rolls, hot and sour soup, and General Tso's chicken.

"Ok I know what we're getting," I say as I pull my phone out. "I hope you like Chinese food."

James stands up and walks over. "As long as you order General Tso's Chicken, I'm good."

I laugh at his answer. "Already planning on it, that's the only thing I ever get!"

I dial the number for the restaurant and place the order. "Alright it'll be ready in about 15 minutes, so do you want to leave in about 5 minutes?"

"Sure, I'm just gonna change first," he responds.

I grab my purse and my keys. "Alright, let's go."

We walk out of the apartment, and go down the flight of stairs. We get to apartment 2J, and walk in.

"Alright, I'll be ready in two minutes," James says before walking to his room.

I go to the couch where Carlos is sitting playing video games. I sit next to him, and he pauses his game and looks at me. "Hey what's up?"

"Well, after you left, I found out that there's a rumor that Kendall and I are dating, I learned some songs on the guitar, Kendall kissed me and I realized I don't have feelings for him that way. Then James came over, and he kissed me. And now we're going to get Chinese food." Carlos gets a shocked look on his face. "So how was your day?"

"It was fine, but James kissed you?" He kinda shouts the last part.

"Shhh, and yeah, he did. But it was more just a sympathy kiss, since I was upset after seeing a picture of me with my parents from when I was younger."

He gives me a goofy smile. "Did you see sparks?"

I look away and smile, thinking about that short kiss. "...Yeah," I say and look back at him and smile more.

Carlos starts to say something, but James walks out. "Alright, Lauren, let's go."

James starts walking to the door, and I stand up. "Bye Carlos," I say and start walking after James.

Carlos holds up his phone and mouths, 'Text me later'.

I wave at him over my shoulder, telling him I will.

We walk down to the parking lot. "So do I finally get to see this awesome pink car Carlos was talking about?"

"Oh yeah," I say as I pass by some cars. I unlock my car and get in, as James gets in the passenger side.

"Ok it is pretty awesome," he says. "When I'm super famous one day and own five houses, I'm going to have a car like this."

I look over and smile at him. "That might not be that far away," I say. "Well, at least the super famous part."

His face lights up with a big smile. "You think so?"

"I know so," I say and smile back at him. I start the car, and plug my iPhone in and hit shuffle.

I laugh as the first song plays, and it's Boyfriend. "Kendall just taught me how to play this on the guitar, earlier," I say as I start to pull out of the parking lot.

I sing along as I'm driving, and James joins in. We sing along to the next couple of songs, which are songs from Mulan and the Lion King. By time we get to the restaurant, we're both laughing.

I stop the car, and start to get out, with James right behind me. We walk in, and get our food quickly.

We go back to the car, and I get in. Before starting it, I look over at James. "You know, I've had such a good time ever since I moved to the Palmwoods and met you and the guys. So thanks for having talked to me that first day."

James smiles and hugs me. "I'm so glad I met you too."

I smile and start to drive back to the Palmwoods, thinking of how lucky I am to have met James.

We get back to the Palmwoods, and head up to my apartment. I set the food on the table, and get out silverware, and plates and bowls.

We sit down and start to eat the soup. "So, I was thinking," I start to say. "Since my birthday is in about a month, I want to have a party here. Especially since I'm turning 18."

"Sweet what day is it? Mine's next month too!"

"It's the 15th."

James gasps in surprise. "No way! Mine's the 16th! And I'm going to be 18 too."

I smile at the coincidence. "Then let's totally have the party be for both of us!"

He smiles and gives me a high five. "This is going to be the greatest social gathering ever!"

I nod as I get out the chicken. "So who should we invite?"

"Well, obviously Carlos, Logan, and Kendall," he says. He pauses to take a bite of food. "Probably some of the people at the Palmwoods, like Camille, Guitar Dude, and the Jennifers. Anyone you want to invite?"

"I need to invite my friend Rachel. She really knows how to throw a party. And knowing her, she'll probably bring alcohol."

He gives me a shocked look. "You guys drink?"

"Yeah, it makes parties ten times better. You should see me after a few drinks, I really know how to party." I pause as I see him looking at me weird. "What, have you never gotten drunk at a party before?"

"Yeah, I have, but you just seem like you wouldn't be a person to get drunk."

"Ok then it won't be a big deal. But we just have to make sure that Katie doesn't come, since she's too young for that." James nods his head in agreement. "I think I'm going to invite some of my friends from The Hunger Games."

"You can invite whoever you want. The more people who show up, the merrier," he says and smiles. He takes one more bite of food before leaning back in his chair. "Ugh, I'm so full."

I nod in agreement. "Maybe we shouldn't have ordered so much." I walk over to the couch and lay down. James comes over and lies on the other section, his head next to mine.

I turn on the TV, and MTV is talking about me and Kendall again. I go to change the channel, but James stops me. "Wait, you and Kendall are dating?"

I sigh and turn my head to look at him. "No, we aren't. It's just people trying to make something up when there's nothing there. Some person took pictures of us today on his motorcycle and leaving the store together, so obviously someone decided to say we're dating."

He smiles and looks back at the TV. "Ok good."

I nudge him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, that I'm just glad you're not dating him." He looks back at the TV.

I'm left wondering what he meant by that. But I don't think about it for long, before I end up falling asleep watching TV.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

I walk into the studio, with the guys next to me. Gustavo and Kelly are standing there waiting.

"Dogs," Gustavo says when he sees us. "I got news for you. So in two weeks, Big Time Rush will have," he pauses to create suspense. "A concert!"

The guys start cheering, and James and Carlos hi-five each other. And I stand there confused. "Umm, why am I here then?"

Gustavo turns to me. "Great question, L-Dog. To get you exposure and to get people to want to buy your music, you will be opening for them."

"Really?" He nods his head yes. "That's awesome!"

"That's great, Lauren," James says and Carlos pats me on the back.

"Hey, that's enough cheering. The dogs know how much training there is for a concert. So this is going to be a long two weeks." He claps his hands, and a bunch of people run in and strike poses. "Dogs, you'll be working with Mr. X first to learn the choreography to your new songs. L-dog, you'll be with me recording your new song. Now get to work!"

People start running around, and the guys are pushed towards the dance studio. Kelly grabs my arm and leads me to the recording booth.

I walk in and put the headsets on. I look down at the music as Gustavo gets ready. Hold It Against Me. Sounds like an interesting title. I start reading the lyrics, and I raise my eyebrows at some of them. 'If I said I want your body now, would you hold it against me?'

I look at Gustavo. "Isn't this song a bit inappropriate?"

"Yes. Yes it is. But that's because your target audience is teenagers, and they seem to like songs like this."

I raise my eyebrows at him. "Um, no they don't."

"Just sing the song!" he shouts at me. "We need two more songs before the concert, so don't worry about the lyrics."

I shrug and nod my head, letting him know I'm ready to sing.

Gustavo starts the music, and I sing the song through. "Ok, Lauren. That was good. You were just a little bit pitchy during the chorus the first time. But other than that, it was pretty good."

"Alright do you want me to run through it a couple more times?"

He nods and starts the music again.

I sing the song a couple more times, and then Gustavo decides that it's good. I walk out of the booth, and Gustavo hands me a cd. "This has all three of your songs on it. Take it to Mr. X so you can learn the dance for them. Then send the dogs over when they're done."

I walk out of the room and head to the dance studio. I stare at the cd in shock, slightly in disbelief that I have my own songs recorded. Songs that people will be able to buy.

I hear music playing before I walk in the room. I stop and listen to the catchy beat that makes me want to dance. "Elevate a little higher. Let's throw a party in the sky and celebrate. Elevate until we're flying. Move, move your feet until you levitate. C'mon let's elevate!"

I walk in and see the guys dancing, and Mr. X yelling at them, while saying 'X' before everything. I watch them for a couple minutes without them seeing me.

Mr. X turns and sees me. "Oh X-cellent, you are here. I am almost done teaching Big Time Rush. For now, you can watch." He turns back to the guys and sees them goofing off. "What are you doing?" he shouts.

Carlos is doing a head stand against the wall. James is looking at himself in one of the mirrors on the wall, fixing his hair. And Logan and Kendall are sitting on the floor playing cards.

"Got any 5s?" Logan asks. Mr. X grabs his hair, and starts to look very stressed.

"Nope," Kendall responds. "Go fish!"

"I give up!" Mr. X shouts before going to the wall and banging his head against it.

I walk over to Logan and Kendall, and sit next to him. "Jeez, he stops for one minute, and you guys already goof off."

"Well you try dancing for an hour and a half straight! It gets boring!" Carlos shouts from over by the wall.

James comes over and sits next to me. "So how did recording go?"

"It went pretty good. Got a third song recorded. And now I'm supposed to have Mr. X teach me dances to all three songs."

"Oh good luck with that," Carlos says as he falls forward. He rolls over to us. "These long dance sessions are the worst!"

"You only think that because you can't dance," Logan responds.

Carlos smacks him on the head. "You dance just as bad as me."

Logan throws down his cards. "I do not!" He smacks Carlos on the head, who hits him back. They start slapping each other, and I laugh at them.

"There they go again," Kendall says as he leans back on his arms, watching them.

"Guys, stop!" I shout at them. But they ignore me and keep hitting each other. I sigh and stand up.

"What are you doing?" James asks while looking up at me.

"Taking matters into my own hands," I reply. I walk over to them, and yank on the back of Carlos' shirt, pulling him away from Logan. I push him behind me, and stand between them two.

I cross my arms as I look back and forth at Logan and Carlos. "Seriously, you two are acting like little kids. Knock it off."

James and Kendall stare at me shocked. "How did she do that?" James quietly asks Kendall, looking at me shocked.

"You guys are forgetting that I had to go through a couple weeks of training for The Hunger Games. I had to do quite a bit of combat training." I smirk at their faces. "So you might not want to mess with me."

I walk past them and pick up the cd I had set down. I go over to Mr. X, who is now sitting against the wall, his face in his hands. "Mr. X, my uncle told me to give this to you so you can teach me dances for each of the three songs. And the guys are supposed to go see him."

He looks up at me, clearly happy. "I do not have to try teaching them how to dance anymore?"

"Not for now, you don't," I say and help him up. I turn to look at the guys. "You should probably go see my uncle now. You know how he gets when he has to wait."

Kendall and James scramble to get up. Carlos runs out of the room, followed closely by the other guys. James stops just before leaving. "Good luck with your dancing," he says and smiles at me, before walking after the guys.

I turn back to Mr. X. "Ok. Are you ready to be taught the art of dancing?" He crosses his arms over his chest in an X.

I nod my head and smile at him. "Yep. Let's do this."

~BTR~

"Ugh, I can barely walk," I say as the guys and I walk into the Palmwoods. "Too much dancing."

"Want a piggyback ride?" James offers.

I nod and hold my arms out for him to walk over. He stops in front of me, and I slouch on his back, and he picks me up.

We start heading throughout the lobby, when a girl with red streaks in her hair stops the guys. "Hey guys, what's up?"

Kendall responds, "Not much, just had a long day of preparing for a concert we're having in two weeks." I clear my throat, and Kendall looks at me. "Oh! I forgot, Lucy, this is our new friend Lauren. Lauren, this is Lucy Stone, future rock star."

I hold my hand out for her over James shoulder and she shakes my hand. "Nice to meet you," I say and smile.

"You too. So I was trying to find you guys to see if you wanted to hang out tonight with Camille and I? You can join us too, Lauren."

The guys all agree that they'll come over later. Lucy looks at me expectantly.

"Yeah it sounds great. Maybe now I can make some other friends so I'm not hanging out with the guys all the time."

"Hey!" they all shout.

I laugh at their responses. "Oh, you guys know I love hanging out with you. But I really should try making other friends."

James turns his head to look at me and smiles. "True." He looks back at Lucy. "Alright we'll see you later."

"Bye guys," she says and starts walking to the pool.

The guys start walking to the elevators. I rest my head on James shoulder, exhausted from dancing for two hours.

We go up to their apartment and walk in. "Thanks for carrying me, James. You can put me down now."

He chuckles and walks over to the couch. "That's no fun," he says and sits down, squishing me between him and the couch.

"Not cool, James!" I say and lightly hit his back. He laughs and moves to sit next to me.

"So when are we going over to Lucy's?" I ask them.

Logan sits down next to me. "I don't know, probably in an hour or two."

"Good, then I have time for a nap." I lean back my head and close my eyes. The guys quietly talk in the background. Sleep seems to just evade me.

After a few minutes, I feel something hit my face. I open my eyes, and see Carlos holding a bowl of popcorn. "Really, Carlos? You're going to throw food at me?"

"What are you talking about? I didn't throw anything at you," he says with a smirk. He grabs a handful of popcorn and eats it.

I sigh and close my eyes to try to sleep, again. Popcorn hits my face again. I open my eyes and glare at Carlos. "Go ahead. Try it one more time. See what happens"

We stare down at each other. After a minute, I turn away, satisfied that I had won. I go to talk to Logan when I get hit in the face. "That's it! No more playing nice!" I shout as I turn to Carlos.

I tackle him, knocking the bowl of popcorn out of his hands. I push him to the floor, and sit on his chest, preventing him from moving. I laugh in victory and fist pump the air.

"Not cool, Lauren! I was eating that popcorn!"

I smirk at him. "Not anymore." I look back at the other guys, who are looking at me shocked. "What, I warned him."

"I've never seen a girl tackle Carlos before," Kendall says surprised. "Nice!" He holds his hand out for a high five, which I return joyously.

I stand up and hold a hand out to Carlos to help him up. He takes it, showing that there's no hard feeling. "Yeah, nice job! I wasn't expecting you to tackle me like that!"

I sit back down on the couch laughing at him. I turn the TV on and start flipping through the channels. James leans over and whispers to me. "Remind to never get on the bad side of you in a fight."

I look over at him and wink. I turn back to the TV, and find that New Town High is on. "Oh I love this show! It's too bad that Rachel had to leave! I wanted her and Drake to be together so badly!"

Logan, Carlos, and James all look at Kendall concerned. "Guys, I'm fine! That was five months ago!"

I scrunch my face in confusion. "What happened five months ago?"

Logan turns to me, ready to explain. "Kendall dated Jo Taylor, the person who played Rachel for several months. But then she got a movie deal and had to move to New Zealand to film for three years."

"Ooo, that's rough." I turn to look at Kendall. "Sorry for bringing her up unintentionally.

He shrugs his shoulders. "It's not that big of a deal. It was five months ago that she left. I've moved on since then."

"Oh. Well, I guess we won't watch New Town High," I say and pick up the remote.

I flip the channel and MTV switches on. "So are you ready to fall in love with Big Time Rush all over again?"

The guys all sit up and shout at the TV, "Yes!"

"Well get ready, because in three weeks, Big Time Rush is dropping their second album, All Over Again. And we've got even bigger news: Rocque Records just announced today that BTR will be having a concert in two weeks at the Staples Center. The guys will be singing a few new songs, so you should definitely buy tickets when they go on sale tomorrow."

I go to change the channel, but stop when I see a picture of me show up on the screen. "Also, Lauren Rocque will be opening for BTR. Lauren is starring in upcoming movie The Hunger Games, and is producing her first album at Rocque Records. Word is that she has an amazing voice, and will rock the music world."

I smile really big, and look at the guys. "You hear that? Apparently I'm going to rock the music world."

"Of course you are. No doubt about it," James replies.

"I'm so excited for this concert!" Carlos shouts and jumps up in excitement.

"Me too! And it's totally awesome that Lauren is opening for us." Logan looks over and smiles at me.

"Well hopefully I am a fraction of how good you guys are," I say.

"Believe me, you will," Kendall says and stands up. "Now, do you want to head over to Lucy's now?"

We all respond "yeah," and get up. We start walking out of the apartment, and I walk next to James.

I think about whom we're spending the evening with, and remember something. "You don't think Camille is going to slap me again, do you?"

I turn to look at him before we walk up the flight of stairs. He is trying to hide a smile. "No, she won't be rehearsing for a role. She only slaps people when she prepares for auditions."

"Ok, good," I say as everyone stops in front of a door.

Kendall knocks on the door, and Lucy opens it. "Hey, glad you guys could make it. Come on in," she says and steps to the side.

We walk in the small apartment, and Camille is sitting on the couch. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Not much," Logan responds as he sits next to her. "This is Lauren," he says and gestures to me.

"Hi, nice to meet you," I say as I walk over to her. I sit on the couch and the guys sit next to me.

Lucy sits in a chair. "So, we're going to play a little game."

"Oh no," Kendall says quietly. "This won't be good."

"We're just going to play a simple game of truth or dare," Lucy says with a mischievous smile.

"C'mon guys, this won't be that bad," I say.

"Alright, you can start than, Lauren. Truth or dare?" Lucy asks.

I contemplate the options briefly before deciding. "Truth."

"Ok," she says, and thinks for a second. "So of the four guys sitting here, how many of them have you kissed?"

I can tell that she is trying to see if she can intimidate me. "Two," I say confidently, not letting her intimidate me.

"What?" Logan, James, and Kendall shout. The only one who doesn't say anything is Carlos, since he knows about me kissing Kendall and James.

"Who did you kiss?" Logan asks in disbelief.

"I don't have to tell you anything," I respond and smile mischievously. They all look at me expectantly, like they want me to tell them who.

"Alright, that's fairly interesting. Why don't you ask someone else now, Lauren?" Camille says and gives me a nice smile.

"Sure," I look around at everyone, and decide who to pick. "Alright, Carlos: truth or dare?"

"I'm going to go with dare, since the last time I picked truth, everyone got mad at me."

"Ok, I dare you to wear a dress, and then run through the Palmwoods Park and back up here."

Carlos' face drops. "No way am I doing that."

"You have to, man. According to the 'Truth or Dare code'." Kendall nudges him, and Carlos stands up.

"Fine, give me a dress," he says with a determined look on his face. "The sooner I can get this dare done, the better."

Lucy drags him to her room, and after a minute she walks back out. "This should be real funny."

"Oh yeah it will," I say and get my phone out to take a picture of him.

He walks out with a short gold dress that has sequins on it and is poofy. He grimaces when I take a picture of him. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"I can," I say and push him towards the door. "Now let's go, one lap around the Palmwoods."

I shove him out the door and close it behind him. I turn back to everyone. "This is too funny."

Everyone nods in agreement. I sit back down, and wait with everyone for Carlos to get back.

~BTR~

"Guys, you go ahead, I'm going to walk Lauren back to her apartment," James says as we leave Lucy's.

"Alright, see you in a little bit, man," Logan says as they start walking to the elevator.

James and I go to the stairwell, since my floor is one down. The door closes behind us, and we start slowly walking down.

"So, earlier you said you had kissed two of us," he says and looks at me.

"Yeah, I did," I respond and look away. "What about it?"

We get to the door to my floor. James puts his hand on the door knob, and stops and looks at me. "Who else?"

I sigh as I see his face, and how upset he is about this. "Does it really matter?"

He nods his head. "Yes, it does."

I stare up at him, and see how much he wants me to tell him. "Ok, it was Kendall. Happy now?"

I push him lightly to the side and open up the door. I walk out and James follows right behind me. "When? And why him?"

I get to my door and turn to look at him. "James, why do you care so much?"

"Because I do," he responds and crosses his arms. "Are you going to answer my questions?"

I sigh and lean against the door, crossing my arms. "You are so stubborn. Fine, it was the other day, when we went to the guitar store. He kissed me then, and told me he likes me. Then later he kissed me as he left my apartment."

"Oh," he says, and his face drops. "Well, did you kiss him back?"

"No because I don't like him like that." I pause as I get my key out. "Now, can I go in now? I'm getting tired."

He smiles at me. "Of course." He leans in and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. He turns and starts walking away. "See you tomorrow!" he shouts over his shoulder.

I open my door and walk in, smiling like a fool. I close the door and lean against it, holding my hand to where James kissed my cheek. That little kiss set my heart racing fast.

I'm falling for James. And I'm falling hard.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

I plop down on my couch, disgruntled about what to do today. One quick glance outside shows that it's pouring, so I can't do anything outside.

I can't hang out with the guys, because they're at the studio. Which is where I should be, but Kelly told me not to come in today since my uncle can't figure out my last song. And I know how angry he gets when he can't write a song.

I get out my phone and glance at the time. 1:27. Ugh. The guys won't be back until after 6. I lean my head back and stare up at the ceiling, trying to think of something to do.

I look back at my phone and realize that I should tell people about James' and I's party coming up. I send a text to my friends from the Hunger Games: Jackie, Alex, Dayo, Josh, Liam, Jen, Jack, Tara, and Jeremy.

_Hey it's Lauren. I'm having a birthday party on July 16th, and I hope you can come! It's at my apartment at the Palmwoods. And it'll start at 6, and end whenever we feel like it! Let me know soon if you can come or not! :D_

I start putting my phone away after sending the mass text, but stop, realizing I need to call someone. I dial the number and wait as it rings.

"Aloha! Rachel Anderson speaking from paradise!"

"Rachel, it's Lauren."

"OMG I haven't talked to you in forever! What's up, girl?"

I smile at her. Obviously she's on another one of her trips to Hawaii. "Not much, I'm bored out of my mind right now because it's raining and I have nowhere to go."

"Aww, bummer!" I hear her shout to someone. "David! Can you get me another drink? Just something fruity." She pauses and returns to talking to me. "Sorry about that. Have to quench my thirst. So how's life? Any new jobs?"

"Yeah I just got done filming The Hunger Games a couple weeks ago. That was amazing."

"I bet! I know how much you love that series!"

I nod my head, then realize she can't see me. "Mhmm. And now I'm recording with my uncle, and I actually get to sing at a concert in two weeks!"

"No way! You have your own music? That people can buy?"

I laugh at her. "Yes I have my own music. And they can't buy it yet, since I only have three songs."

"Well let me know as soon as you can, I'll buy them right away." She pauses and I can hear ice hitting a glass as she takes a sip. "So, meet any cute guys?" I can almost see her smiling.

I hesitate a bit. "Mayyybeee."

She screams a tiny bit. "Lauren! Details, now!"

I stand up from the couch and start pacing around my apartment. "Ok so my first day at the Palmwoods, I met these four guys who are in the band Big Time Rush. They're also recording at Rocque Records. And they are now my new friends. Oh, and I'm opening for them at the concert."

"Oooo, are they cute? What do they look like? And what are their names?"

I can't help but laugh at Rachel. She always loves talking about boys. "Kendall is tall, blond, and eyebrows. Logan is kinda the geeky science nerd, but he has some swag. Carlos is a giant bundle of energy, and just pretty crazy in general. And then James, well, he's considered the pretty one of the band. And yes, they're cute." I pause and glance over at my cardboard cutout of them. "Very cute."

"Which one do you like?" she asks in a singsong voice.

"Wh-what makes you think I like one of them? Just because they're cute guys doesn't mean that I have a crush on one of them."

"Lauren, you're stuttering. You so like one of them." By the tone of her voice, she knows she's right.

"Whatever, I didn't call you to talk about boys. I called because I'm having a birthday party on the 16th."

"I will so be there! I get back from Honolulu in a week, so I can probably just stay with you for a few weeks? Please?" I can hear the smile in her voice.

"So let me get this straight. You want to stay with me for three weeks, in the Palmwoods. And I'm assuming you'll go to the concert. You know that this isn't a five star hotel like you're used to. And you still want to stay here?"

"Yes, Lauren! It'll be so much fun, and it'll be like we're just having a big sleepover like when we were younger!"

I laugh at her, "Alright, sounds good! So you know what to bring to the party?"

She scoffs at me. "Do you even need to ask? Of course I know! No party would be complete without some booze!"

I laugh, "Ok good! Now I'll let you get back to your vacation! Can't wait for you to be here!"

"Byyeee, Lauren! See you soon!"

I start to hang up the phone, and hear her shout at me, "And I'm gonna find out who you have a crush on!"

I laugh at what she said. Surely she'll stop at nothing until she figures out I like James. But I'll tell her eventually once she's here.

I put my phone back in my pocket as I start walking to my room, smiling about seeing Rachel soon. I walk in and grab my guitar from next to my bed.

I leave the room and flop back down on the couch. I open the case and gently take out my guitar. I lean back on the couch, and just start playing some random chords.

I lay there for a little while, thinking about James. How his smile makes me have butterflies in my tummy. And then that kiss... I definitely saw sparks fly.

Sparks Fly...

I sit up as the lyrics just start coming to me. "The way you move is like a full on rain storm, and I'm a house of cards."

I get up of the couch and scramble to my room, searching for my journal. I open up my dresser drawers, and push stuff aside. But it's nowhere to be found.

I sit on my bed, and try to figure out where I put it. I look around and my eyes land on one box sitting in the corner. Damn it, I never unpacked it.

I jump off my bed and run to the box. I start throwing the stuff out of it, and sure enough, it's sitting at the bottom.

I take it out and walk back out to the couch, grabbing a pen from my desk. I sit down and pick up my guitar again, and start writing down the lyrics that just come right into my head.

~BTR~

"I see sparks fly, whenever you smile." I finish singing the song and set my guitar down as I look out at Gustavo. "Well, what do you think?"

He stares at me for a minute, deep in thought. Kelly gives me a thumbs up, showing she likes the song.

Gustavo finally leans forward and presses the button to talk. "That," he says and pauses. "Was actually pretty good. It just needs some background stuff to it."

I smile at him. He actually likes my song! "So, this is going to be my next song?"

He starts to slowly smile. "We have our fourth song!" he shouts.

I cheer a bit, and Kelly says, "Yes!"

"Alright, that's enough cheering! Lauren, sing the song again so I can record it."

I pick up my guitar, smiling that he likes my song. I get ready and look out at him. He nods, letting me know everything is all set.

I start playing the song, and sing along. The emotion in the song can be heard as I sing, since it was written based on my feelings.

I finish and walk out of the booth. "Great job, Lauren," Kelly says and pats me on the back. "I can tell now that the song is going to be a great hit!"

I smile at her. "You think so?" I place my guitar back in its case and sit down on the couch.

"Of course it will be, I'm producing it," Gustavo says. "And that brings me to my next thought. At the concert, do you want to play guitar during it? Or do you want to come up with a dance for it?"

I think about it for a second. "You know, this song is more about the feelings you have towards someone, not dancing. So I think I'll play guitar with it."

"Good choice," he says and turns around in his chair to the control panel. "Now, I'm going to work on finishing this song. You can either go back to the Palmwoods, or go dance with Mr. X. I know he needs another girl to dance with the dogs for Music Sounds Better With You. Maybe you could fill that spot."

"Alright, bye Kelly, bye Gustavo!" I say and pick up my guitar and walk out of the room. I head down the hall towards the dance studio. As I get close, I can hear Mr. X shouting on the phone at someone.

I walk in and see the guys sitting in the center, and Mr. X is pacing back and forth.

I set my guitar down and walk to the guys. "What's going on?"

"He can't find another dancer to work with us for the concert," Logan replies.

Carlos looks up at me confused. "Why are you here? I thought you had the day off since Gustavo couldn't figure out the song."

I smile as I sit down next to them. "I did have the day off. But while I was bored, I ended up writing a song, so I came here and my uncle liked it. So he's now working on adding background stuff to it."

I glance over at Mr. X who is now leaning against the wall crying. "Oh that reminds me." I jump up and walk over to him, and place a hand on his shoulder. "My uncle said that I can be one of the dancers."

His face lights up when he hears that. "Really? Now I don't have to keep calling people trying to find someone!" He turns to the guys. "Alright, up, up! We have our fourth dancer!"

The guys scramble up and stand in front of him. Mr. X starts pacing. "Now, this dance is a partner dance. So, who wants to be partners with Lauren?"

They all start scrambling and pushing each other. "I'm going to be with Lauren!" Carlos shouts.

"No you won't! You suck at dancing!" Logan shouts back.

"Guys, stop!" I shout at them. They freeze where they are. "Don't I get any say in this?"

"Of course you do," Mr. X responds. "But first, let me bring the other girls in. Ladies!"

Three girls walk in the studio. "This is Caitlin," he says about the girl with wavy auburn hair. He moves to stand next to the next girl, who has long, straight, black hair. "This is Stephanie." she waves at the guys as Mr. X moves to the last girl. She has brown hair in a pixie cut. "And this is Emma."

Carlos' jaw drops when he sees them. "Ok you guys can dance with Lauren," he says and runs over to Caitlin. "Hi I'm Carlos," he says and she smiles at him.

Logan steps away from Kendall and James, and looks at them. "Alright, I'm gonna pass on dancing with Lauren." He walks over to Emma. "Hello there," he says and then kisses her hand.

I look at the two remaining guys. "Well, I guess I'll pick out of you two." I glance back and forth between them. James points at his chest and smiles at me. Kendall smiles and slightly nods his head towards James, telling me to pick him. "Alright, let's go, James."

"Yes!" He cheers and moves to stand next to me. Kendall moves to stand by Stephanie.

Mr. X starts to walk in front of all of us. "So this song is all about that special someone who makes everything better. You need to show that through your dancing. I like to think of this dance as a modern day tango." He claps his hands and a woman walks in and smiles. "This is my assistant, Karen. We'll demonstrate the dances, and then you'll repeat what we do."

We spread out throughout the studio, and I look over to my right and see James standing there, smiling at me. I smile back, then turn away blushing.

"Now, girls, you will watch Karen, boys will watch me." They go through the first part of the dance for the chorus. "Now repeat!"

He plays music, and we start dancing. I'm constantly blushing over dancing with James, especially when he has to run his hand up the side of my leg.

Mr. X stops the music. "That was good. Now do it again!"

He plays the music and we go through the dance again. We keep doing this until we have the dance for the chorus done.

"Alright now I need Lauren and James, so we can work on the beginning."

Everyone else moves to the side to watch. "Alright, so we will start with Lauren walking out behind James, and dragging her hand around your back until she gets to the side. Then James, you'll grab her hand. And when you're singing, I want you to be singing to Lauren. And Lauren, after he holds your hand for a line or two, I want you to let go and start walking away, almost like you're teasing him. But you need to look back and smile at him. It should be very flirtatious. Then James, you'll come up behind Lauren, put your arms around her waist, and sing to her over her shoulder. Alright let's try it!"

Mr. X starts playing the music. I walk up to James, and slide my hand across his back. When I get to his side, he smiles at me and grabs it. He starts singing to me, and I blush like crazy. "I try to write this down, the words just don't come out." I let go of his hand and start walking away from him. I glance back and smile at him. "It's hard to say how you feel."

He walks after me as he sings. "Been down the longest road," he reaches where I am and wraps his arms around me. "Said yes when I meant no." I glance over at him as he sings to me. "I lost control of the wheel."

He stops singing and we stand there for a second. I stare into his eyes and lose track of everything else. James starts to lean in to close the little distance, ready to kiss me...

Everyone starts clapping and we step apart. I blush and bite my bottom lip. I glance over at him and see him smiling at me. He winks at me when he sees me looking.

I look away and can't help but smile. My heart is racing from being so close to kissing him.

I look at everyone. Carlos is sitting there smirking at me, since he knows how I feel about James.

Mr. X starts walking to us. "Great job. It truly looked like you got the flirtatious feel to it." He turns to look at everyone else. "After that, the other girls will come on, and you'll do the dance I taught you earlier. Now, Kendall, let's work on your part next with Stephanie."

James and I walk over towards the wall as Kendall and Stephanie move to the center of the room. I stand next to Carlos, with James on my other side.

"Wow, that dance was intense. I thought for sure you guys were going to kiss there," Carlos whispers to me.

I watch Kendall dancing as I respond to him. "We almost did." I turn to look at him, smiling like crazy. "I wish we did."

He smiles at me. "You two so like each other!"

I shush him and turn to look at James. Luckily, he hasn't heard any of our conversation.

I turn back to Carlos, and Caitlin leans over and whispers to me, "Are you two dating?"

I shake my head no.

"Oh, well from the way you were flirting, it looked like you are." She turns away to look back at Kendall and Stephanie dancing.

I lean back and rest against the wall, thinking about what she said. Did it really look like we're dating?

Mr. X stops and looks at us. "Ok, let's run the dance from the top!"

The guys move to the center, and me and the other girls move to either side of the room.

The music starts playing and I walk over to James. He smiles over at me as I walk over. He sings through his part, and the other girls walk on. We all start dancing, and I'm constantly smiling about being partnered with James.

Kendall sings his part, and we stand to the back. Then we start dancing again.

We finish the song with the guys pulling us toward them and holding us against them. I smile up at James, breathing hard from dancing. He smiles right back at me.

Mr. X starts clapping. "Excellent job, everyone! Alright we're all done with that dance. Ladies, thank you very much for joining us. Boys, you can take a half hour break before we go over the dances to your other songs."

James puts his arm around me as we start walking out. "Great job. You really are a fantastic dancer."

I smile up at him and put my arm around him. "Aww thanks! You're not too bad yourself!"

We walk into the break room, and the guys are saying goodbye to the other girls. They walk out, and Kendall, Logan, and Carlos turn to us.

"So, what shall we do for our break?" Kendall asks.

I walk over to the couch and lay down. "Can't we just sit here? I'm tired!"

James moves to the couch and picks up my feet and sits down where they were. He sets them down on his lap. "Why are you tired? You haven't been dancing since 11."

"I'm a girl, I'm allowed to be tired. So when are you guys going to be done?"

Logan glances at the clock. "Well, it's a little after 4:30, and we get done at 6. So just an hour after our break."

"Good, because I've been so bored today."

Kendall sits down on the other couch, next to Carlos and Logan. "What did you do earlier?"

I close my eyes as I tell them what I did. "Well, first, I texted my friends from the Hunger Games, telling them about our party. Then I talked to my best friend Rachel for a while. And then I wrote my song."

"Rachel who?" Carlos asks.

"Rachel Anderson."

Logan spits out the drink he was taking a sip of. "Rachel Anderson, as in the famous model?"

I laugh at his reaction. "Yeah we've been best friends for like forever. We met when we were two and our moms were acting in a movie together. Since then, we've been best friends."

"She's hot!" Carlos blurts out. Kendall smacks him in the ribs.

I burst out laughing. "I'll make sure to tell her that. Actually, you can just tell her yourself, since she'll be staying with me for a few weeks once she gets back from Honolulu next week."

"Wow. So you have a father that's a successful director, a mother that is a famous actress, an uncle who is a music producer, and now a supermodel best friend. Any other famous people you're related to or friends with?" James asks.

"Preferably more supermodel friends!" Carlos says all excited.

I laugh at his excitement about Rachel being a model. "No, not really."

I sit up and stretch. Kendall looks over at me. "So what's your song about?"

I blush about it. "Oh well, it's called 'Sparks Fly'."

"Do we get to hear it now?" James asks and smiles at me.

That smile is exactly what the song is about. "Um, nope. You have to wait until the concert to hear it!"

The guys groan and complain. "Sorry boys. Now, I'm going to head back to the Palmwoods, because I'm tired."

I stand up and start walking out of the break room. "Hey, I'll walk you out to your car, Lauren."

I turn around and wait for James to catch up. I grab my guitar and we start walking out of the studio.

"So dancing today was pretty intense." I look over at James, and smile. I'm going to see if I can get him to say anything about how we almost kissed.

"Yeah it was. It's such a great dance for that song; it really brings forth the meaning of it."

"And the meaning of that would be?" I ask. I know very well what the song means, but I want to know what he thinks.

"I think the song is about finding that one person, who no matter what you're doing, makes it better. That person who makes you feel nervous to be around them and happy at the same time." He stops and looks at me.

As I look back at him I just want to scream, 'Someone like you!' But I don't. "Yeah I know what you mean."

He reaches out and plays a hand on my cheek. "You don't know how lucky I feel to have met you."

I smile at him and place a hand over his. "I can take a good guess."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

I hear a shrill scream come from the entrance to the Palmwoods, and then that person screams my name. I look up to see Rachel come running towards me. She hugs me tightly. "I haven't seen you in so long! I've missed you!"

She steps back and smiles at me, then throws her purse at Logan. She then snaps her fingers at the guys, "Go grab my bags."

Carlos starts walking over. "Guys, stop." I walk over to Logan. "Give me that," I say and take back Rachel's purse.

I hand the bag back to her. "Rachel, these aren't people to carry your bags. These are my friends."

She looks at all of them, and pulls her sunglasses down to get a better look. "Damn, you guys are hot."

Rachel looks over at me. "I'm going to guess who's who, based on your descriptions!"

She walks up to Carlos, who is smiling goofily at her and staring. "You look like you have a lot of energy, so you're Carlos?"

He nods his head really quickly. "Uhuh. You're pretty!" He bursts out.

Rachel smiles at him and laughs. "Thanks, hun."

She moves to stand in front of Kendall. "Oh you're definitely Kendall."

He looks at her slightly confused. "Umm, yeah, how do you know?"

She shrugs. "Tall, blond, and eyebrows."

Kendall stands there really confused and I laugh at him. Rachel moves to Logan. "Now you look like you could have some swag, except you dress like a nerd. So you're Logan."

"Hey I do not dress like a nerd!" he says, offended.

"Yeah you do," Kendall says to him. Logan crosses his arms.

Rachel finally walks over to James, who is standing there smiling. "And you're James."

"No description?"

She sighs, "Well, you're the last person, so I don't need a description since I know you have to be James. And you're description was just that most people say you're the pretty one in the band."

James makes the face. "Well, that's no lie."

Logan smacks him in the ribs. "Hey, what was that for?"

Logan turns to him and gives him a look like he thinks James is stupid. "You were acting self-absorbed."

They start to bicker and Rachel turns back to me. "They're funny. I can see why you're friends with them. Now, can we go up to your place so I can drop off my stuff?"

I smile at her. "Sure." I turn to glance at the guys. "Do you guys mind helping me carry Rachel's stuff up?"

"No problem," Kendall says and walks over to the heaping pile of suitcases. He picks up the first bag, and nearly drops it on his foot. "What do you have in here, bricks?"

"No, I don't. That's all my cosmetics stuff."

I raise an eyebrow at her. She shrugs her shoulders. "Hey, you never know what I might need while I'm here."

The other guys have gone to the pile and each grabbed a bag. I go over and pick up the last suitcase. "Alright, let's get this stuff all to my apartment."

We start walking through the lobby and barely manage to fit all of the bags and us in the elevator.

"I'm so excited to stay with you, Lauren!" Rachel says and gives a tiny scream of excitement.

"This is going to be awesome," I respond as the doors open on the third floor. The guys walk out, dragging the bags, and Rachel and I follow.

"So what are you two planning on doing today?" James asks as he turns around to look at us. He ends up tripping on the bag Logan is carrying, and falls to the ground.

I reach over and help him up. "You ok?"

He stands up and smiles at me. "Yeah, I'm good now."

I blush as I turn away, smiling. I hear Rachel giggling, and I turn around and give her a look saying 'What?'

"I'll tell you later," she whispers to me.

I nod, and look back forward and see that the guys have stopped in front of my room. "Thanks so much for helping, guys," I say as I walk to the door and unlock it. "You can just leave all the bags here, I'll bring them in."

"You sure?" Kendall asks as he leans his bag against the wall.

"Yeah, I got this." I say as I set the bag I'm carrying inside my apartment. I turn back to them and smile. "I'll let you know what we're doing later, ok?"

"Sounds good," Carlos replies.

They all say bye, and Rachel waves at them. She looks back at me, and I stare at her with my hands on my hips. "Alright, help me carry the bags in, then spill about why you were giggling."

We quickly bring the bags in, and I close the door as Rachel walks around. "This is such a cute place!"

I shrug my shoulders. "It's ok. But it's kinda lonely since I'm all by myself."

She sits down at one of the stools by the counter and turns around to smile at me. "Not now, 'cause I'm here!"

I walk over and hug her. "I'm so glad to see you again!" I pull away and look at her. "Now spill on you laughing."

"I just thought you and James were mega adorable! You two would totally be a cute couple. And they are very cute like you said." She looks around my apartment, and her eyes land on the cardboard cut-out of them. She jumps off the stool and walks over to it. "Are you kidding me, Lauren? You have a cardboard cut-out of them?"

"Yeaahh," I say sheepishly as I walk over to her.

"You creep!" She says and starts laughing.

"No I'm not! I just thought it'd be funny to have it since I'm now friends with them. And that cut-out almost got Carlos and I attacked by crazy fans."

"Ok maybe it's not too creepy." She stares at the pictures of the guys. "So which one of the guys do you like?"

I scoff, "I don't like any of them."

She looks at me like I'm an idiot. "Lauren, I can tell when you're lying. So just tell me which one."

"I'm not saying anything!" I jokingly shout at her.

"Fine, I'll just have to guess based on what I know about you and the guys." She looks at the cut-out. "Carlos is super energetic, kinda like you, so I think you're probably best friends with him."

"True statement," I say as I walk to the couch and sit down. I watch her analyzing the guys.

"Logan is way too geeky for you. I know that you hate dating guys that are super smart, so he's out."

"Damn, you know me so well," I say and laugh.

"So that leaves Kendall and James," she says quietly. "Both are guys I could see you dating. They're both very attractive." She turns to look at me.

"So which one is it?" I ask her.

"I'm going to go with James being the guy you have a crush on, based on that little incident in the hallway a couple of minutes ago."

She stares at me expectantly. I stare back, not giving any hint that she's right. "So am I right?"

I sigh at her. "You're right."

Rachel cheers at fist pumps. "Oh yeah, I win! I totally know my best friend!"

I smile at her as she walks over to the couch and sits next to me. "You sure do! So what do you want to do today?"

"Well we need to get caught up on things since it's been forever since we last hung out. And then later I was thinking maybe we can go out to the club. You can bring your totally hot new friends with us, too. But right now, can you make us lunch? Pretty please?" She gives me a small smile.

"Sure. Nutella sandwiches, and celery and hot sauce?" I ask as I get up off the couch and head to the kitchen.

"Yes, please," she responds as she walks behind me. "I haven't had one of your sandwiches in forever."

I get out all the stuff and start making the sandwiches. I glance up at Rachel. "So any new modeling things lately?"

"Well I've got the Victoria's Secret fashion show in a few weeks. I'm going to be on one of the upcoming episodes of America's Next Top Model. Tyra invited me to help the girls out for that photo shoot. But that's basically it."

"I don't know how you can go in front of millions of people in only a bra and underwear. I could never do that."

She shrugs. "I'm used to it by now. After a couple years of it, it doesn't faze me anymore. The only thing that's a pain is keeping in shape."

I pass her a sandwich and she takes a large bite out of it. "Like I totally shouldn't be eating this, but it's so good!"

I laugh and take a bite of my sandwich before starting to cut up celery. "Well you're going to be eating lots of junk food while you're staying here."

"I'll deal with it," she says.

I set the plate of celery down next to her and fill a bowl with hot sauce to dip it in. I go around the counter and sit next to her. We eat our food in silence for a couple minutes.

"So have you made out with James yet?"

I choke on the piece of food I was eating. She pats me on the back. "No, I haven't," I say once my throat is clear.

"Really? Why not?"

"Rachel!"

"Lauren!" She says right back to me.

"I don't just make out with guys! I like to actually get to know them first!"

She smiles knowingly at me. "You haven't told him how you feel, have you?"

"No I haven't, and it's going to stay that way," I say and give her a look. "No telling him."

I jump off my stool and place my plate in the dishwasher. Rachel follows me. "C'mon, Lauren! You two would be so cute together!"

I turn and look at her. "I'll tell him eventually. But I'm waiting right now for the right moment."

"Aww you're scared to tell him, aren't you?"

"No," I say and look away. I can feel her staring at me. "Ok, I am."

She pulls me into a hug. "Aww, sweetie, it's ok." She pulls away and leads me over to the couch. She sits me down and sits next to me. "Ok, tell Dr. Rachel, relationship expert, what your problem is with telling him."

I smile and laugh at her. "I don't know, he's just so different from guys I've liked before. Every time I'm with him, I get butterflies in my tummy. And his smile. God, that smile is so perfect! Every time I see him smile at me, I swear I see sparks fly."

Rachel smiles at me. "Aww, I think you are majorly crushing on him. And from what you've told me, it seems like he's so much different from other guys you've liked."

I nod and lean back on the couch. I tilt my head back and stare at the ceiling. "He is so different." I sit up suddenly and grab her hands. "How could one guy make me feel like this? I wrote a song about him, that's how much he makes me go crazy."

She covers a hand over her mouth. "That is too cute!" She stands up and grabs my hand and pulls me up. "Ok, tonight, we are totally going to the club. I'm going to dress you up all sexy, and you're going to dance with James, ok?"

Rachel leads me into my room. She pushes me into my bathroom, and closes the door. "Take a shower! I'm going to get out a super mega foxy awesome hot outfit for you!"

I sigh as I jump in the shower. Rachel is so crazy.

I take a quick shower, and when I walk out, I see Rachel as laid out an outfit on my bed. And all of her cosmetic stuff is sprawled on the floor.

She looks up when she hears the door open. "Ok so I got this hot outfit for you. So put it on, and then I'm going to curl your hair and do your make up." She then walks out of the room.

I walk to my bed and shake my head and laugh at the outfit Rachel picked out. First, she got me a mega padded push up bra to wear. The shirt is a really low cut black tank top with black sequins all over it. And then she picked out gold leopard leggings to wear. And the shoes are red pumps.

"Rachel, there is no way I'm wearing this!" I shout.

"Yes you are! Don't make me come in there and force you."

"Fine!" I shout back. Knowing her, she would have come in here and make me wear the outfit. So I might as well not fight her.

I get the outfit on and stare at my reflection. Rachel walks in and looks at me. "Good, you're dressed. You like it?"

"I feel like a slut."

"But you're not, you just look hot," she says as she walks up to me. "Alright, what do you think of my outfit?"

I glance at her outfit, which consists of a red tank top, shorts, black pumps, and a gaudy necklace of black beads. "Jeez, Rachel, you look hot. And those heels totally make your legs look great."

"Thanks. I've really learned what to wear to complement my figure from modeling." She grabs her curling iron and plugs it in. "Ok so you need to tell the guys we're going to the club later. I say we leave around 8 which gives us about two hours to be ready. I'll get my limo to drive us, in case we end up having some drinks."

"Ok sounds good, I'll text them now," I say and get out my phone. I decided to just text Kendall, since he'll tell the others.

L: So tonight we're going out to a club to go dancing. Obviously we want you guys to come with us. So we want to leave around 8. And Rachel will have a ride for us. Sounds good?

K: Yeah sounds awesome. Everyone is up for it. We'll be ready and waiting in the lobby by 8. See you then.

I glance from my phone up to look at Rachel. "Ok the guys are all good for coming with us."

She smiles at me. "Great! Now, move to the bathroom so we can curl your hair."

She pushes me into the bathroom, and I sit on the toilet as she curls my hair. I put my iPhone on my dock and start playing some music.

I sit there for a little while. "Ok so I have a plan for tonight," Rachel says as she lets go of a piece of now curled hair. "So I'm sure some guy will ask to dance with you. You go dance with him, it'll totally get James jealous, and then he'll ask you to dance!"

I look at her in the mirror. "You think that will work?"

"99% sure it'll work." She finishes a piece of hair, and sprays hairspray all over my hair. "There, your hair is now 10 times sexier. Your welcome."

"Thanks, Rachel," I say as I bounce some of the curls. I stand up and look at her. "What are you doing about your hair?"

She runs a hand through her long black hair. "Eh, I think I'm just going to straighten it. But don't worry about me, you're the one we need to make look even more hot."

She runs out of the bathroom, and I can see her picking things up from the floor. She walks back in, her arms full of makeup, which she dumps on the counter. "Alright, let's get your make up done."

I sit back down and keep my eyes closed as she puts on makeup. After a few minutes she finishes, and I open my eyes and look in the mirror. She's put on a smoky eye style make up, and it really brings out my green eyes.

I stand up and hug her. "Thanks so much for helping me get ready."

Rachel hugs me right back. "Oh no problem. My mission was to make you look sexy, and you sure do." She pulls away from me. "Now, help me get ready."

"Of course. Do you want me to straighten your hair while you put make up on?"

She nods her head, starting to put foundation on. I plug the straightener in and wait for it to heat up. After thirty seconds, it's ready.

I start to straighten her hair, being careful not to bump her head as she puts her eye shadow on. I finish quickly, since her hair was already pretty straight.

She finishes her make up, and inspects the outcome in the mirror. "Damn, we look hot."

I laugh and respond, "Totally." I glance at my phone, and see that it's 7:50. "Crap, we have to meet the guys in ten minutes."

I run out to my room and go to my dresser. I quickly spray perfume on me. Then I grab my phone, money, and key, and put them in my bra. I get my shoes on quickly, and almost fall as I run around my room, making sure I haven't forgotten anything.

Rachel gets her shoes on, and she's ready to go. "Alright, I'm all ready. Let's go!"

We walk out of my apartment and go to the elevator. As we wait inside the elevator, I get a bit nervous. "Rachel, what if this plan doesn't work?"

"Then it doesn't work! Chill, Lauren, everything is going to be fine. Now let's go have some fun dancing."

The doors open and we walk out into the lobby. Some of the guys sitting there stare at us. One even says to us as we pass, "Hello there, ladies."

We ignore them, and I giggle a bit. We walk up to where Kendall and everyone are sitting. Kendall looks up at me and his eyes go wide.

"Hey guys. You all set and ready to go?" I ask and smile at them. The other guys look at me, and Carlos' mouth drops open in surprise.

"Um, uh, yeah, we're all ready," James eventually says.

They stand up, and we start walking out. Waiting right outside is Rachel's limo. The driver holds the door open, and we pile in. I end up sitting in between Rachel and Carlos.

We start moving, and Rachel is talking to Logan and laughing about something. Carlos starts talking to me. "I must say, this outfit you have on is quite… different from what you normally wear."

"Is it too much?" I say, a bit uncomfortable. "Rachel picked it out for me. I didn't entirely want to wear it."

"No, it looks great. And honestly, you look hot."

I laugh and smack him lightly on the arm. "Carlos!"

He laughs. "What, I'm a guy. Any guy in their right mind would agree that you look really hot tonight." He looks over at James briefly, who is talking to Kendall. "In fact, it looks like James thinks so too."

"No way." I say and nudge him. But for the next few minutes I keep watching James out of the corner of my eye, and see that he does keep glancing over at me often.

The limo pulls up to the club, and we get out. I see the huge line waiting outside. "Ugh, I don't want to wait around."

"Don't worry, I got this," Rachel says and leads us to the front of the line. The bouncer sees her, and lets us go past. Once we enter the club, Rachel turns to me, "The benefits of being a famous supermodel."

I nod my head in agreement. "Let's go get a table."

We walk along the side of the crowd dancing, and find a free table. We pile into the booth, and I end up on the end next to Logan.

"Are they going to card us?" I ask Rachel.

She shakes her head and yells to be heard over the music. "No, they don't care here. So boys, feel free to have anything to drink!"

We sit and talk for a few minutes. Rachel then stands up and says, "Hey, Logan, let's go dance!"

He blushes and stutters "Um, uh, ok." I move out of the way for him to get out. Rachel then drags him out onto the dance floor.

I smile and shake my head. "He is going to be so traumatized by her dancing," I say to myself.

A guy walks over to the table and smiles at me. "Hey, do you want to go dance?"

"Sure," I say and smile at him.

He leads me out into the crowd, and we start dancing. Well, it's not dancing, it's grinding. I'm fine with dancing with him, until he starts getting really into it. And then it just gets awkward, when I can feel him get a boner.

The song ends and I turn around towards him. "I'm really thirsty. Do you think you can get me a drink?" I bat my eyelashes at him.

"Yeah of course," he says and hurries towards the bar.

I sigh and start making my way back towards our table. I pass by Rachel and Logan dancing, and I smirk at her.

I make it back to the table and see James sitting there by himself, pouting as he takes a sip of his drink. I slide into the booth next to him. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he grumbles.

"C'mon, James. Obviously something is wrong."

"I'm just bored, ok? Everyone is out dancing with someone, except for me."

We sit in silence for a few seconds. I grab his drink and take a sip of it. "Well stop being so pouty," I say and take a couple more sips of his drink. "By the way, I'm finishing this."

He leans back and pouts. I sigh and finish the drink. The guy I was dancing with walks up to me. "Here's your drink."

I take it from him. "Aww, thanks."

He stands there expectantly. "Do you want to go dance some more?"

I smile up at him, getting his hopes up. "No."

He frowns, and then walks away. James starts laughing. "That was too funny."

I take a sip of the drink. "It was, but at least I got a free drink out of it. Want some?" I say and offer the glass to him.

He takes it and has a sip. "Well are you at least having fun?" he asks.

"Yes, I am." I have a few more sips, and I can start to feel the light buzz of the alcohol taking affect.

The song changes and my absolute favorite club song comes on: Yeah by Usher.

I stand up and pull James' hand, dragging him out of the booth with me. "C'mon, we're going to go dance!"

He laughs as I pull him out into the crowd. We start dancing, everyone dancing crazy to the song.

We keep dancing for a few songs. Then James pulls me over to the bar to get a drink. We sit down and have some of our drinks. "I am having such a great time."

"I completely agree," I respond. "Hey have you seen everyone else lately?"

"I saw Kendall and Carlos out on the dance floor. But I haven't seen Rachel or Logan recently."

"Oh boy," I say and grab my phone out of my bra. James raises his eyebrows at my placement, but I ignore him. I send a quick text to Rachel.

L: Please tell me you're not making out with Logan somewhere right now.

I sit waiting for a few minutes, and she finally responds.

R: I'm not. But we just were ;D

L: Well come over to the bar, James and I are there.

R: Okie dokie, sexy.

I sigh and look up at James. "They're meeting us here. And Rachel has definitely had a few drinks. It might be time to head home soon." I finish my drink and signal the bartender to make me another.

"We can leave in a little bit, if you want." He tilts his head back and finishes his drink, and gets another as the bartender gives me mine.

"Yeah we can all head back to my place. I'm guessing you guys are staying over?"

"Definitely. Mama Knight doesn't need to know we've been drinking."

Rachel and Logan walk over, with his arm around her. "Hey, guys, what's up?" Rachel asks and giggles.

"Ok you need to get home soon," I say and she pouts at me.

"Boo, don't be a party pooper! Have some more drinks, Lauren!" She gets the bartenders attention. "Four shots!"

He pours them out, and Rachel hands one to each of us. "To a great night!" She shouts before drinking it.

I drink mine, and so does James. I feel the warmth of the alcohol in me. "Ok, maybe we can stay for a few more songs! But then we'll leave."

James takes my hand and starts leading me across the club. "Let's go get some fresh air."

We walk out of the club, and I take a deep breath. "It's such a nice night out!"

He laughs and smiles at me. "I've had so much fun tonight."

I shake my head. "Yup, me too!"

"Let's just wait out here for everyone," he says and leans against the building.

I stand next to him. I look up at him and see him staring back at me. He puts one hand on the side of my face, and the other on my hip. He leans in and places his forehead against mine. "I never told you earlier, but you look so damn beautiful tonight."

I close the distance between our lips and kiss him. He starts kissing back, and I place my arms around his neck. He takes his hand from my face and wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me closer to him.

I run my hand through his hair, and the other hand I trail down his chest, feeling his abs through his shirt. He shudders at my touch.

We pull apart to breath, and I hear someone shout at us. "Hey, let's go! The limo's waiting!" I look past James to see Carlos. Everyone else is standing by him.

I look back up at James, and grab his hand. "C'mon, let's go."

We walk to the others, and get in the limo. I sit on James' lap and rest my head on his shoulder. I quickly pass out from exhaustion.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

I wake up in the morning, and squint my eyes against the harsh sun shining in my room. But this only makes me notice my headache. I sit up slowly, rubbing my eyes to get rid of the sleepiness.

I look around my room, trying to recall what happened last night. I remember dancing in the club with James. I blush as I think about that, and smile happily to myself. But I have this nagging feeling in the back of my mind like there's something else that I should remember.

Instead of wasting time thinking about this, I swing my legs off my bed, noticing that I'm still in my clothes from last night, to go to the bathroom. I stand up, and I feel dizzy right away. I sit back down for a minute, waiting for the dizziness to pass. Stupid hangovers.

After the dizziness passes, I stand up again and start slowly making my way to the bathroom. I stumble on something, and fall on my butt. "Oww," I say as I realize I'm still in my heels. I yank them off and chuck them across my room. "Stupid heels…"

I glance at the floor and realize Rachel's stuff is still all over. "Stupid stuff," I say and kick it lightly away. I stand up and the dizziness comes back. "Urgh, such a stupid headache, from all that stupid alcohol I drank!"

I start kicking stuff around while complaining to myself about stupid things. I hear someone chuckle and I snap my head up towards the door. I see James standing there leaning against the doorframe, a smile on his face. "What's so stupid?" he asks and walks in.

I blush and look down at the floor, fiddling with my hands. He had probably seen a majority of my mini temper tantrum. "Oh, um, nothing really. I was just overreacting a bit to tripping over Rachel's stuff on my floor." I sigh and press my hand to my forehead, my headache becoming a bit more prominent. "And, I've got this stupid headache from my hangover."

"Well, I can get rid of the headache part." He pauses and I look up at him. "I think," he says with a meek smile. "How about some yummy breakfast?"

I smile at him. "Sounds good, as long as I don't have to make anything."

He loops his arm through mine, and walks me out of my room. We walk into the main part of my apartment, and I see Kendall and Carlos cooking. Kendall flips a pancake and looks up at us and smiles.

Carlos pauses from scrambling eggs. "Finally you're up, Lauren!"

"Hey, I needed my sleep!" I walk over to them and sit at the counter. James follows me and stands behind me. I glance over at the clock. "Besides, it's only 11:23."

Carlos laughs at me. "Like you needed more sleep! You were passed out as soon as we left the club!"

"Yeah, about that. What happened after I passed out?"

Kendall puts the pancakes he's been cooking on a plate and looks up at me. "Well, James carried you up here and just put you in your room. And you woke up briefly to hand us the key." He chuckles briefly thinking about it. "It was kinda funny."

"Oh," I say and look down, blushing a bit about James carrying my up to my room. I look around, and realize we're missing two people. "Hey, where are Rachel and Logan?"

James scrunches up his face. "Oh, they're still sleeping."

I realize he isn't telling me something. "And?"

James shakes his head, and Carlos responds. "They're sleeping still in her room!" He crosses his arm and frowns a bit.

"No way," I say and jump off of my stool. I start storming over to Rachel's room. I pause just before I open the door. I turn back to the guys and scrunch my face at a thought that crosses my mind. "They didn't, you know, last night?"

James spits out his juice he was taking a sip of, and Carlos starts laughing at me. Kendall decides to respond, a bit uncomfortable. "No, they just fell asleep right away."

"Good," I say, and turn around back to her room. I throw open the door, and let it bang against the wall. Logan sits up right away, looking around for where the sound came from. Rachel just groans and rolls over.

I walk in the room over to her. I stand right next to her, hands on my hips, waiting for her to look at me. After a minute, she slowly peeks open her eyes at me. "Must you be so loud?"

"Yes," I say and pull on her arm, dragging her off the bed. She grudgingly stands up, and glares at me. "It's time you wake up."

"Fine, I'm up," she says and pouts while crossing her arms.

I glance over at Logan who's rubbing his face, trying to wake up fully. "Logan, do you mind leaving so I can talk to Rachel for a minute?"

He looks over and smiles at me. "Yeah, sure." He jumps off the bed and walks out of the room, closing the door behind him.

I turn to Rachel and stare at her. "You shouldn't lead Logan on like that."

She shrugs as she sits down on the bed. She pats the spot next to her, but I don't move. "Lauren, chill! I was drunk, and not fully in control of my actions! And besides, all we did was dance, make out a bit, and cuddled before I passed out."

"Still, you shouldn't be leading him on! He's going to think you like him, because he's a bit naïve! And I swear, Rachel, if you break his heart, you will regret it."

She looks up at me, "Ok! I'll try not to lead him on. But did you think that maybe I am starting to like him?"

I look at her face, and see she is really being honest. "Are you really?" I say in a much lighter tone.

She looks down and shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe?"

I sit down next to her and hug her. "Then I'm sorry for freaking out at you." I pull back and give her a serious look. "But he's not like the normal guys you date, so take it easy on pursuing him."

She laughs and smiles at me. "Ok I will. So what happened with you and James last night? I was too drunk to notice anything!"

I laugh at her. "Well, we danced a bit. And I feel like I should be remembering something else that happened, but I can't."

She sits and thinks for a minute, trying to recall memories. Her face then lights up in excitement. "I remember! As we were getting ready to leave, we walk out of the club and I saw you and James totally making out!"

I gasp and shout, "No way!"

She smiles and nods her head. "I'm positive you did! Ooo, this is so exciting! What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"I'm not going to do anything. If I couldn't remember, chances are he can't remember. And I don't want to bring it up and have things be awkward."

She frowns slightly and looks down at the ground. "Yeah I guess you're right." She lifts up her head and sniffs a bit. "Is that food I smell?"

I laugh and stand up, pulling her up with me. "Yep, it sure is. Kendall and Carlos were making breakfast."

"Then what are we still doing in here?" she says and pulls me towards the door, laughing.

We walk out, and the guys look up from putting food on plates.

"Good, you two are out." James says and walks over to us with two plates, and hands one to each of us. "I was just about to go get you," he says and smiles at me.

I blush and walk over to the table, and everyone joins me. We sit and eat for a little while, eating and talking.

"So what are we going to do today?" I say when pausing between bites.

Kendall stops and looks over at me. "We need to go back to our apartment soon, or else my mom will start freaking out. But we can do something later."

"How about movie night?" Carlos says and smiles. "You know, since we didn't get to watch movies last night."

"I'm cool with that," I respond. The guys all agree with me. I turn to look at Rachel. "What about you?"

"Sounds good, as long as we have some candy."

"Hell yeah!" I shout and everyone laughs. I stand up and put the plate in the sink. I turn around to face everyone. "So, guys, you can go back to your place after you're done eating. Rachel and I can run out and get some food. Then we'll meet back here? Or do you want to go to your place later?"

Kendall shrugs before answering. "I guess we can have movie night at our place."

The guys all walk over and put their dishes in the dishwasher. I glance over at the clock as they start to walk towards the door. "So it's going on noon right now. Do you want us to come over around 4? That would give us plenty of time to do things."

Kendall smiles at us before opening the door. "Sounds good. I'll make sure to let my mom know so that she makes enough food for dinner."

He walks out the door, and James and Carlos follow, waving bye to us. Logan pauses before walking out. "By the way, you two can pick out the movies for tonight." He smiles at us then leaves, closing the door behind me.

"So what's movie night?" Rachel asks me as I start walking to my room.

"Basically, every Friday evening, two people pick a movie each and we watch them," I say and enter my room, Rachel right behind me. I sit down on my bed and look at her. "So I say we shower first, then run to the store and buy some candy. Then we can go to Blockbuster and get movies."

"Ooo, that sounds like fun! I totally know what movie I'm going to pick!" She jumps off the bed and starts walking out.

I groan as I realize what she's talking about. "Are you really going to make us sit through a three hour movie?"

She pauses in the doorway and turns to look at me, hands on her hips. "Yes. You know how much I love Titanic. And Leonardo DiCaprio is mega beautiful. Now, I'm going to go take a shower and get ready."

"Ok, but can you at least clean up all of your stuff from my floor so I don't trip on it again?"

"Ugh, fine," she says and starts to pick things up, as I walk to the bathroom. I laugh at her reluctance to clean, and start to get ready for the fun night ahead.

~BTR~

I sit in my dressing room, staring at the mirror. I can hear the screams of fans, waiting to see the show. I try to not get nervous, but it's hard not to.

The door opens, and I see Rachel walk in. She smiles at me in the reflection of the mirror. "How are you feeling, girl?"

"Really nervous," I say quietly.

She walks over to me and gives me a big hug. "Lauren, you're going to be great," she says over my shoulder. She pulls away to look at me, keeping her hands on my shoulders. "Trust me. You're beyond prepared for this. And you can totally handle a bunch of screaming girls."

"I guess," I say a bit reluctant. "But what if people don't like my music? It's the first time anyone is going to hear it."

"Lauren, I've listened to them, and a person would have to be an idiot to not like them."

I smile a bit at her, and there's a knock on the door. It opens, and I see Kelly standing there. "Lauren, are you ready?"

I take a deep breath and nod. I stand up, and take one last look at myself in the mirror. My outfit consists of black jeans, which are easy to dance in, a bright red ruffled top and white converse. My wavy hair is straightened. And I have a smoky eye make-up and bright red lipstick.

I look at Kelly and Rachel waiting, and smile at them. "Alright, let's go do this."

We walk out of the room and make our way to the stage. The crew walks up to me, and gets my mic set up, and the in-ears ready.

As they leave, Gustavo walks over. "Alright, L-dog. It's finally here. You're first concert performance. Everything will go perfectly fine, you've rehearsed everything hundreds of times. The order, like you already know, is Bad Romance, Freak the Freak Out, Hold It Against Me, and then Sparks Fly."

He looks at me, and realizes that I'm super nervous. So he does something completely unusual for him. He pulls me into a tight hug. "Lauren, you're going to be perfect. I know you will be. You're an extremely talented singer, and I'm not just saying that because you're my niece!"

I laugh a bit at what he said. I look at him and smile at him. "Thanks, Gustavo."

"Alright, now go knock 'em dead! But not really, because they need to hear the dogs so they'll buy their album!"

I walk over to the side of the stage, where the band is ready to walk on. I glance out at the crowd, and almost have a panic attack. "I can't do this, I can't do this," I mumble as I start to back up from the stage.

I bump into someone, who catches me before I fall. I hear familiar voices before I turn around and look at them.

James was the one who caught me, and he's smiling at me. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asks when he sees my face.

"I can't go out there and sing in front of that many people!"

Kendall walks up to me and puts an arm around me. "You can, Lauren. It's not that bad, once you get out there."

"Yeah, but you guys have sang at tons of concerts before!"

"And before every one, I still get a bit nervous. But that just adds to the excitement once you get out there!" Carlos responds.

"And we'll be right here on the sides, watching the whole time," Logan adds.

"So if you get nervous up there, just look over at us, and we'll be there encouraging you." James says and smiles.

I start smiling at them. "You guys are so sweet. Come here," I say and hold my arms out for a hug. They all give me a big hug.

After a minute, I pull away from them. "Alright, let's go do this."

I walk back to the side of the stage, the guys walking right next to me. I stand next to the band. "I'm ready. Let's do this."

They walk out on stage, and the crowd starts cheering. They get in place, and the lights fade out. I take a deep breath, and start to walk out. I go to the center of the stage, and wait to cue the band. I glance over at the guys, and see them smiling encouraging.

I smile, and look at the band, seeing they're ready to go. I nod at them, and look out at the crowd, waiting for me to start. All several thousand of them.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

The lights come on, and I start singing with the band starting to play. "Oh, caught in a bad romance."

The crowd starts screaming louder, and I can't help but smile at them. I sing through the first verse, and walk around, slapping the crowd's hands. I get to the chorus, and my back up dancers come out.

I start dancing around, singing the song. "I want your love and I want your revenge, you and me could write a bad romance."

The song flies by and before I realize it, it's over. I stand there, looking out at the crowd smiling like an idiot. They're all cheering, and I start to wonder why I was nervous because this is awesome.

"What's up, LA?" I shout and the crowd responds with lots of loud screams. "Are you guys having fun?"

They respond with cheers. "I don't think you are! So how about another song?"

I smile as they scream in response. The music starts to play for my next song. "Are you listening? Hear me talk, hear me sing. Open up the door, is it less? Is it more?"

I walk across the stage to the front. I start jumping around when I get to the chorus. "I scream your name. It always stays the same. I scream and shout. So what I'm gonna do now is freak the freak out."

I dance around during the tiny break in the song. I clap my hands above my hand. "C'mon, let me see those hands!"

The crowd responds with clapping, and I lean forward as I get to the next verse. "Patience running thin, running thin, come again. Tell me what I get, opposite, opposite. Show me what is real. If it breaks does it heal?"

I get to the chorus and dance while singing, my dancers in the back. I finish the song, and the crowd cheers even louder than after the first song. I'm surprised by the amount of camera flashes going off. People actually want to take pictures of me!

I walk back by the drummer and drink some water quickly. I walk back to the front of the stage. "Ok I think you guys are having fun now." They respond with screams.

"Alright let's get the party started with this next song!" More screams from the crowd. "This is Hold It Against Me."

The music starts and I take a few steps back. "Hey, over there," I start singing. "Please forgive me if I'm coming on to strong. Hate to stare, but you're winning. And they're playing my favorite song." I start slowly walking to the front as the two guy dancers come back out. "So come here, a little closer. Wanna whisper in your ear. Make it clear. Little question. Want to know just how you feel."

The guys come up and stand on either side of me as I start the chorus. I stand there and look out at the crowd as I sing. "If I said my heart was beating loud, if we could escape the crowd somehow. If I said I want your body now would you hold it against me?" I start to dance with the guys. "'Cause you feel like paradise and I need a vacation tonight. So if I said I want your body now would you hold it against me?"

There's a small break in the song and I dance a bit before singing the next verse. Then I get to the large break in the song, and start dancing. When I finish, the crowd starts cheering really loudly. "Give me something good, don't wanna wait I want it now. Pop it like a hood, and show me how you work it out."

The song slows down and the two dancers fall to the ground. I fall to my knees, and keep my head down. As the song starts picking up, the guys start standing up. I slowly look up at the crowd and start singing. "If I said my heart was beating loud, if we could escape the crowd somehow. Would you hold it against me?" I stick my arms out to the side and the guys pull me up. I finish singing through the chorus, dancing to it.

The song ends, and I strike a pose with the two dancers right next to me. Loud screams erupt in the arena. I smile out at them, breathing hard from dancing. The guys run off stage and I walk over towards where the guitarist Frank is standing. I grab my guitar from next to him.

I walk to the front of the stage as I put the strap on my shoulder. I look to the side of the stage and see the guys, Kelly, Gustavo, and Rachel all standing there cheering for me, and all with big smiles on their faces. I turn back to the crowd. "I've got one more song for you all tonight. So who here has ever fallen in love with their best friend?" A lot of people cheer and raise their hands.

"I know I sure have. So I wrote this next song about this one guy. He's everything a girl could ask for. But there's one small problem." I pause and look out at the cheering crowd, waiting for my answer. "He has no idea how I feel. But every time I'm with him, I swear I see sparks fly."

I smile as I start to play the music with the band and the crowd cheers louder. "The way you move is like a full on rain storm, and I'm a house of cards. You're the kind of reckless that should send me running but I kinda know that I won't get far."

I slowly start walking to the front of the stage. "And you stood there in front of me just," I reach my hand out towards the crowd. "Close enough to touch. Close enough to hope you couldn't see what I was thinking of."

I jump as I hit the chord for the chorus. "Drop everything now. Meet me in the pouring rain. Kiss me on the sidewalk. Take away the pain. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile. Get me with those brown eyes, baby as the lights go down. Give me something that'll haunt me when you're not around. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile."

I smile out at the crowd and walk over to one side of the stage as I play my guitar. "My mind forgets to remind me you're a bad idea. You touch me once and it's really something. You find I'm even better than you imagined I would be. I'm on my guard for the rest of the world but with you, I know it's no good."

I start walking back over to the center of the stage. "And I could wait patiently but, I really wish you would drop everything now. Meet me in the pouring rain. Kiss me on the side walk, take away the pain. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile. Get me with those brown eyes, baby as the lights go down. Give me something that'll haunt me when you're not around. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile."

I jam out on my guitar to the next part. "I run my fingers through your hair and watch the lights go wild. Just keep on keeping your eyes on me; it's just wrong enough to make it feel right. And lead me up the staircase, won't you whisper soft and slow? I'm captivated by you baby like a firework show."

I stand and look out at the show as the song slows down. "Drop everything now. Meet me in the pouring rain. Kiss me on the sidewalk, take away the pain. 'Cause I see sparks fly," I glance over at the stage and see everyone smiling. But I mostly see James smiling at me. "Whenever you smile."

I move around the stage, having more energy in the song after seeing James smiling at me. "Get me with those brown eyes baby as the lights go down, give me something that'll haunt me when you're not around. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile."

I move to the center of the stage, smiling at the crowd. "And the sparks fly. Oh baby smile. And the sparks fly." I hit one final chord on my guitar, and the entire crowd bursts into loud screams, probably the loudest yet.

I stand there smiling at the crowd, in disbelief that they're cheering for me. "Thank you guys so much. My songs will be on sale tomorrow, so please buy them if you liked them tonight!"

I wave as I walk off the stage, taking my guitar off of my shoulder. When I get to the side, I'm enveloped with tons of hugs. "Lauren, you were so awesome!" Rachel shouts at me.

The guys all congratulate me as well. I glance over at James who's smiling, but it looks fake. "Hey, Lauren, can I talk to you real quick?"

"Sure," I say and smile as I follow after him, away from everyone else.

He turns around and looks at me. "Who is your song about?" he asks, right to the point.

_It's you, James! You, you, you! _I want to scream at him. But I don't.

I sigh as I respond to him. "Just listen to the lyrics, and you'll figure it out."

I start to walk back to my dressing room, and he shouts after me, "Is it about Carlos?"

I sigh as I walk into my room and plop down on the couch. Will he ever realize how I feel about him? There's a knock on my door, and I shout, "Just come in!"

The door opens a bit and Carlos peeks his head in. "You should see James out there; he's running around asking everyone if they know who your song is about."

He chuckles as he walks in and closes the door behind him. He goes to the couch and sits next to me. "He seems to think the song is about me. And when he asked me, I assured him it wasn't, but I don't know who."

I smile a bit at him. "Thanks for not saying anything." I sigh as I lean back against the couch. "Will he ever figure out that it's about him?"

"I think he will eventually. It might just take a bit longer for him than other people. He's not exactly the smartest person." He pauses and smiles at me. "But enough about that! Your performance was awesome! The crowd totally loved you, and I bet their going to buy your songs tomorrow."

"Thanks," I say and smile. "I sure hope they do. I'm still surprised that they actually liked me singing!"

"When are you going to realize that you have a really good voice?" Carlos shakes his head and smiles. He stands up and looks at me, holding a hand out. I grab it and he pulls me up. "Now, I have to go get ready to go out. And you are going to come watch us perform."

"Alright, sounds good," I say as we walk out of my room. The other guys are standing near the stage talking to Gustavo.

The stage crew quickly gets Carlos' mic ready. Gustavo gathers them around to talk to them before they go out.

I stand next to Rachel. "You did such a good job out there! I love those songs, especially sparks fly. So are you going to tell him how you feel?"

I turn from looking at the guys to Rachel. "I'll give him a week. If he doesn't figure it out by the time our party's over, then I'll tell him."

We look over at the guys who finish a cheer with their band and crew. I smile and go up to them. "Good luck, guys! I'm sure you'll be great!"

A crew member walks over and hands them each black sunglasses and cloaks, which they put on right away. I look at them confused. "What's that for?"

"You'll see in a minute," Kendall responds and puts the hood up. They walk over to the side of the stage, and the lights fade out. The crowd starts screaming, and the guys walk out.

They line up and slowly start making their way to the front. When they take off the cloaks and everyone sees them, the crowd goes insane. Even I cheer a bit as their jackets light up, and they start singing. "Elevate a little higher."

Rachel and I dance around backstage as the guys sing their song Elevate. Their next couple of songs fly by with us dancing around. At one point, Caitlin, Stephanie, and Emma join us, waiting to go out and dance.

After singing Big Time Rush, Til I Forget About You, Big Night, and City is Ours, a couple crew members walk out carrying stools for the guys to sit on. I'm a bit confused when they set an extra one down.

Kendall walks to the front of the stage and addresses the crowd. "So we're going to slow things down a bit. But for this next song, we're going to need someone special to come on stage."

All the girls start screaming like crazy, wanting to be picked. Carlos scans the crowd.

Logan starts walking over to the side of the stage where we're standing. "I'm not sure; I don't think she's out there." He reaches the side of the stage and holds his hand out for me. "C'mon, Lauren, let's go," he says and smiles at me.

I take his hand and he leads me back out on stage.

"Let's hear it for Lauren!" Carlos yells and the crowd cheers back.

Logan has me sit down on the middle stool and then sits next to me. James sits down on my left, and I give him a look asking what's going on.

He just smiles at me before turning back to the crowd. "So a few weeks ago, we met Lauren. And now she's one of our best friends."

"And we brought her out here to tell her how much she means to all of us," Kendall says, smiling over at me. "So this is Worldwide."

The guitarist, who I realize is Dustin from the guitar store, starts to play. James grabs my hand before he starts singing, and I look down at it and blush before looking back up at him. "Wait, a minute, before you tell me anything, how was your day. 'Cause I've been missing you by my side."

He sings through his part still holding on to my hand. When he finishes, he smiles at me.

The guys sing the chorus, and I smile as I look out at the crowd. When Logan starts to sing his part, he grabs my other hand and holds on to it. "Yes, I may meet a million pretty girls that know my name. But don't you worry, 'cause you have my heart."

I smile up at him, blushing a bit. This is so sweet of the guys to do this.

Then they get to the bridge, and Carlos walks over and puts his arm around my shoulder as he sings to me. "Oh, wherever the wind blows me. Yes you're the one and only girl on my mind."

He glances up to my left and walks back. I go to look over, but Kendall's arm is around me. "And I said, no, there ain't no one better. So always remember." He leans over and kisses my cheek quickly before walking away. I sit there with my mouth open, hardly believing that just happened.

They finish singing the song, and the crowd cheers loudly. I stand up and hug each of the guys. Then we start walking off stage, and James puts his arm around me. I blush like crazy and can't help but smile like a fool. Once we're fully off stage, I turn and look at all of them. "You guys are crazy."

"We know," Carlos responds and smiles.

"But we can't talk, we gotta get back on stage," Kendall says, and they get ready to go back out.

I walk over to Rachel, a huge smile on my face. "Did that really just happen?"

"Yes, it did!" She responds and smiles at me all excited. "That was so adorable!"

The crowd starts screaming louder, and I know the guys have gone back out. "C'mon, let's go watch them. We can talk about this later."

We go to the side and watch them sing Halfway There, Nothing Even Matters, If I Ruled The World, and then Boyfriend. I then get ready to head out, with Caitlin next to me and the other two girls on the opposite side of the stage.

The guys pause before singing the last song to thank the fans, and to remind them about their album coming out in two weeks.

They look to the sides to make sure we're ready. Then the music starts playing.

I walk out on stage for the third time this night and go to James. I run my hand across his back, smiling when he grabs my hand and starts singing to me. "I try to write this down, the words just don't come out." I let go and flirtatiously smile back at him. "It's hard to say how you feel."

He chases after me and wraps his arms around me. The crowd goes crazy when they see this, jealous of the attention I'm getting from James. "Been down the longest road," he starts singing over my shoulder. "Said yes when I meant no. I lost control of the wheel."

He spins me out from his embrace, and the other girls come out on stage and go to the guy their partnered with. We all start dancing, and the crowd loves it. The chorus ends and James and I stand towards the back of the stage as Kendall goes to the front with Stephanie.

I stand up against him with my hands pressed against his chest and his arms around me. He smiles down at me. "Having fun?" He asks quietly so the mic doesn't pick it up.

I smile up at him. "Loads."

He spins me away from him and we start to dance again as the song gets to the chorus again. Then when they get to the rap of the song, I move to the back of the stage and dance with the other girls. Then the guys come over to us, and we dance to the rest of the song.

When it ends, the crowd erupts into the loudest screams of the night. I head off stage with the other girls. I can hear the guys thanking everyone for coming, before they come off. I smile at them and hug them all. "That was such an amazing concert!"

"Yes, it sure was," Gustavo says as he walks over to us with Kelly. "Great job, dogs. And L-dog, fantastic job on your first performance! I'm sure tons of people will be buying your songs tomorrow."

"Alright, let's head home, guys. I'm super tired," I say and loop my arm through Rachel's.

"Sounds good," Carlos responds.

I look at my uncle expectantly. "Go right ahead, dogs. I'll see you guys in the studio on Wednesday. Enjoy the couple days off, you've earned it."

We start to walk out of the building, led by the security guards. We get in a limo without any fans seeing us, and start to head back to the Palmwoods. The entire way back, I'm smiling like crazy, so happy from performing on stage in front of that crowd.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

We slowly open up the door and walk into the room. Rachel starts giggling, and I shush her. "Do you want him to hear us?" I whisper quietly.

She shakes her head and holds in her laughter. We walk up to the bed on opposite sides. I smile as I count to three on my fingers. On three, we jump on the bed and tackle the person sleeping there still.

"Happy birthday, James!" We yell as we jump on him.

He sits up right away, shocked by us. "What are you doing?"

I smile at him as I sit next to him. "Waking you up, birthday boy! Duh."

"Oh. Well did that require jumping on my bed and attacking me?"

Rachel shakes her head up and down quickly, smiling at him. "Yup! It sure did!"

"You two are insane," he says and shakes his head, smiling at us.

I hop off the bed and grab his arm, tugging on it. "C'mon, we've got a big day today! No more lying around!" I give a tug on his arm, and end up yanking him off of his bed. But in doing so, I fall myself, and he lands right on top of me.

We both start laughing. "Ok, that didn't work out like I planned!"

He smiles as he gets off of me and helps me up. "No, it didn't. So now that I'm up, what do you want me to do?"

"Well, you need to get ready, so then you can help me decorate later. But first, present time!" I grab his arm and start dragging him out of his room.

"Oh, let me go grab your present, you can open it now!" He says and runs back into his room.

I go and sit on the couch, next to the large box containing his present. He walks back out carrying a wrapped box with a giant bow on top. "Ok here you go," he says and smile as he hands me the box.

I take the bow off and stick it to the top of James' head. He laughs as I rip off the wrapping paper. I open the box and gasp when I see what's inside. "James, this is amazing! Thank you so much!" I lean over and give him a big hug, squeezing him.

I pull away and take the display out of the box carefully, trying not to disturb the ten wands sitting in it. I look at them all, realizing that all of the wands for my favorite characters are there. I turn to him and smile. I hug him again. "James, this is so awesome!"

I turn to the long box sitting next to me and hand it over to James. "Now open your gift!"

He carefully takes the wrapping paper off and opens up the box. When he sees what's inside, his face lights up in a huge smile. He looks up at me, still smiling like crazy. "No way. Is this really what I think it is?"

I nod my head quickly and smile at him. He turns back to the box and pulls out the snowboard. "I had it customized to be Big Time Rush themed. And I made sure that some of my favorite lyrics were put on it, so every time you use it you'll think about me."

He hugs me and doesn't let go for a minute. "This is such a fantastic gift! Thank you so, so, so much, Lauren!" He smiles at me. "I can't wait to go use this!"

"Maybe one of these days we can go together. I haven't gone skiing in a while." I smile over at him. "But now, go get ready so you can help me decorate my place in a little bit. And make sure you bring the rest of the guys with you."

I stand up and carefully pick up my wands. I start to walk towards the door where Rachel is waiting. I turn to look back at him before leaving. "Thanks again, James."

We walk out and start heading up to my apartment. "That is such a sweet gift!" Rachel says and smiles at me. "He totally likes you."

"How do you know?" I say and nudge her as we step onto the elevator.

"No guy would spend that much money on a girl for a birthday present unless he likes her."

"Whatever," I say and smile as I step out on my floor. "I'm not going to worry about that now; I'm going to focus on getting the place ready for the party later."

I unlock the door and walk in. I turn to look at Rachel as she walks in and closes the door. "So we have a little over four hours before the party starts. During that time, we both need to shower, get ready, decorate the apartment, and get snacks and drinks out. I'm going to jump in the shower now," I say and start walking to my room.

I walk in and set down the wands carefully on my dresser. I look at them and smile. James really picked out a perfect gift.

I head to the bathroom and quickly take a shower. After I get out, I throw on a t-shirt and sweatpants, waiting to put my dress on until later. I dry my hair, and walk out of my room.

I hear a knock on the door and go and open it. Standing there is the guys, each of them carrying two gifts. One for me and one for James.

"Hey, come in, guys." I say and stand to the side. The four walk in and I close the door. Kendall, Logan, and Carlos all set the gifts down on the table.

I walk over to kitchen and grab the plastic bags that are sitting there. "So, we obviously need to make this place look totally awesome for the party. Kendall, Carlos, do you two want to decorate?"

"Oh yeah!" Carlos shouts and gives Kendall a high five. I hand them the bags with decorations and they start to go about the apartment, figuring out what will go where.

I turn to look at Logan. "Do you want to get snacks and drinks ready?"

"Sure," he says and smiles as he walks over to the bags with everything in it.

Rachel walks out of her room with her purse, ready to leave. "Hey, I have to go do something real quick. I'll be back in like a half hour."

"Alright, sounds good," I say and wave to her. I turn to look at James. "Well, I have to get ready. You can just do whatever you want. See if the guys need any help."

"Ok," he says and smiles at me. He starts walking over to Kendall and Carlos to help them decorate.

I start to go to my room to get ready. I pass by my cardboard cut-out of the guys, and decide to move it into my room. I don't want anyone ruining it. I carry it in and set it in the corner. I head to the bathroom and plug my curling iron in. As I wait for it to warm up, I put my iPhone in my speakers and hit shuffle. I dance around my bathroom singing with a hairbrush.

I do this for a couple minutes, then sit down and start to curl my hair. I continue to sing along, listening to a variety of songs. I get to be about halfway done when I hear Rachel yelling for me.

I walk out of the bathroom, and out to the main room. Carlos laughs a bit at me when he sees my hair half curled, half straight. Rachel smiles at it. "So I got something for you and James!"

She points to the table and I walk over with James. Sitting there is a huge cake, saying "Happy Birthday Lauren and James." And there's also a picture of us dancing at the concert last week.

I turn to look at Rachel, smiling. I run over and hug her. "Rachel, that's awesome!"

She laughs. "Yeah, I know. Now go finish getting ready, your hair looks stupid like that."

I stick my tongue out at her and she laughs. I walk back into my room and finish curling my hair. I glance at the time. 4:46. Ok I have about an hour until people start getting here.

I put my make-up on and walk to my closet. I take my dress out of the garment bag, and put it on. I look at my reflection, happy with my appearance. The dress is a strapless, ice blue dress that goes to just above my knees, and there's a bow on the hip.

I walk out of the room to see the apartment completely transformed. "Wow, you guys really got this place decorated."

"Yep, we did!" Carlos says happily from over by the counter. The entire area in the kitchen is filled with bowls full of snacks and tons of different drinks. Music is playing throughout the apartment.

Rachel walks up to me. "You look cute," she says and laughs.

I laugh at her typical response. "Thanks," I say jokingly.

I hear a knock on the door and walk over excitedly. I open the door and see Camille, Lucy, and Guitar Dude. "Hey guys, come on in!"

They walk in and I hug Lucy and Camille. They go over to the guys and start talking to them. I'm about to close the door, when I see the Jennifers walking this way. So I stand there and wait a few seconds for them to get here, smiling at them.

"Hey, girls, so glad you could make it," I say as they walk in.

"Please, we never miss a party," the blonde Jennifer says and smiles at me.

"Besides, we wouldn't miss your birthday party," the curly hair one says.

"Especially because rumor has it there are going to be some cute guys here," the third one adds.

I laugh and smile at them. They actually are nice to me, which I've learned is rare. "Well, they should be here soon. And thanks again for coming tonight."

They head over to talk to Carlos, and I walk over to Rachel. I talk with her for a bit, and more people start arriving.

After a little while, James opens the door, and I see all of my friends from filming The Hunger Games. I run over and hug all of them. "I've missed you guys so much!"

I quickly introduce them to James. "Alright, this is Alex," I say pointing to the tall blond. "This is Jackie," talking about the girl with bright red hair. "And this is Jack, my good old district partner," I say, smiling as I gesture to the last person. "Everyone, this is James."

They all say hi, and then go throughout the apartment, talking to different people. I go mingle around, trying to talk to everyone that showed up.

I go to grab a drink after a little while, and observe what everyone's doing. The Jennifers are talking to Alex and laughing at something he said, quite obviously loving the fact that he's a model. Lucy and Camille are talking to Jackie, and I smile, happy that my friends at the Palmwoods are getting along with my friends from The Hunger Games. James is talking to Jack, who is animatedly telling a story. James is laughing hysterically at it, and I realize Jack is probably telling an embarrassing story from set.

I start to walk over to stop him from embarrassing me when Rachel runs up to me. "I can't deal with Logan, he's so geeky!"

I laugh at her. "You're just now noticing that?" She nods her head quickly. "Well what did he do?"

"Well, he's quite obviously getting drunk, so he came up to me and said 'I wish I was DNA helicase so I could unzip your genes'." I burst out laughing at this and she smacks me lightly on the arm. "It's not funny, Lauren!"

"No, it's not," I say and try to keep a straight face. "It's freaking hilarious!"

I can see her trying not to smile at me. "Whatever. I'm just going to stay away from him for the rest of the night if he keeps acting like that."

"So you aren't starting to like him?"

"Nope," she responds right away. "Now I'm going to go talk to Carlos, because he's not super geeky and he's actually pretty funny."

"Alright you have fun with that," I say as she starts to walk away. I turn smiling and see the Jennifers coming over to me.

"We want to play a game," the curly hair one says.

"Sure, what game?" I respond and take a sip of my drink.

"We're thinking seven minutes in heaven," the blonde says.

"Um, sure. Sounds good. I'll get everything ready if you tell everyone."

"We will," the brunette responds, and they start to walk around to tell everyone.

I walk over to James who is done talking to Jack. "Hey, what's up?" he says and smiles when he sees me.

"The Jennifers want to play seven minutes in heaven. So you're going to help me get things together."

"Cool," he responds.

"Ok I'll go grab some paper to write all of the names down. You can go in the kitchen and find a bowl to put them in." He nods and heads to the kitchen while I walk to my room.

I quickly grab a stack of paper and a pen. I walk back out and over to the kitchen. I quickly write down all the names of the guys here and fold them before tossing all the slips in the bowl. I glance up to see that everyone is sitting on or around the couches and talking.

I walk over and place the bowl in the center of everyone. "Alright, the names of all the guys are in here. The girls will pick a name, and then those two will go in the closet," I point over to the front closet that I never use. "Alright, who's going first?"

I look around at everyone, and I see Rachel smiling at me mischievously. "We decided before you came over here that you're going first, since it is your birthday party."

"Hey, that's not fair!"

"Yeah it is," Carlos responds from where he's sitting next to Rachel.

I sigh as I reach into the bowl. "Fine, I'll go first." I dig around for a couple seconds and then finally pick a piece of paper. I slowly open it, and start blushing really badly when I see who it is.

"Who is it, Lauren?" Rachel asks with a smile. She obviously knows who from my face.

"Oh, um, it's James," I say and glance over at him. He smiles a bit at me and stands up. A few people cheer a bit.

James walks over to me and holds his hand out. I grab it and he pulls me up. I look at Rachel and she's smiling at me and moving her eyebrows like an idiot, trying to suggest that something was about to happen. I glance over at Carlos as we start walking over to the closet, and he discreetly gives me a thumbs up.

I take a deep breath before walking into the small space, with James right beside me. One of the Jennifers shuts the door behind us and yells, "Seven minutes!" I can hear her walking away giggling.

I lean against the back wall and slide down until I'm sitting. James sits next to me, and I can see him look at me and smile in the faint light. "So are you having fun?"

I smile at him. "Yeah I am. It's great to be able to see some of my friends. But right now I'm kinda wishing I didn't let the Jennifers talk me into playing this game." He looks at me confused, and I start stuttering, realizing he probably thinks I don't want to be here with him. "I just think this game is stupid in generally."

"Oh well, I don't think it's stupid," he responds, and I can see him smirk a bit.

I sigh and lean my head against the wall. "You would say that. You probably wanted to make out with some random girl."

I turn my head and look at him. "I don't want to 'make out with some random girl'," he says and uses his hands to jokingly make air quotes. He then gets serious as he adds, "there's only one girl I want to kiss."

I look away, not wanting to be looking at him when he responds to what I ask. Because I know it's not going to be me. "Who?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11:**

"Who?"

James doesn't respond to my question right away. I stare away from him, trying not to get upset.

He gently places a hand under my chin and turns my head to face him. His face is inches away from mine. I stare into his eyes for a few seconds, getting lost in them.

James finally responds. "You," he says, and closes the small distance between our lips. He kisses me, and I smile against his lips. I feel him smile too before he pulls away briefly. "I've wanted to do that for so long."

I wrap my arms around his neck and smile at him. I lean in and kiss him, running my hands through his hair. He kisses back as he puts his arms around my waist and pulls me closer.

We pull apart to breathe, and he gently pushes a piece of hair out of my face. He smiles at me. "I finally figured out who your song is talking about."

"About time," I jokingly say and give him a quick peck on the lips.

"Well, I had thought I figured it out on Thursday, and then a little birdie confirmed it for me…" he fades off, unsure if he should say who.

"Carlos," we both say at the same time. We look at each other for a second before bursting out into laughter.

"So then I just had to find the right time to tell you. But I've wanted to tell you for a while now."

I look at him a bit confused. "Why didn't you?"

He sighs, then smiles a bit and shakes his head. "I was intimidated by you. You're absolutely perfect, and for the first time ever, I was afraid to tell a girl how I feel."

I start grinning and hug him tightly, not wanting to let go. "Well, you don't have to worry about that now. Especially since I feel the exact same way."

We sit there for a minute just holding each other in a tight embrace. "I have to ask you something, Lauren. Will you be my girlfriend?"

I smile and laugh a bit in joy. "Of course, James! Do you even need to ask?"

I start to pull away from the hug as the door burst open. Carlos and Rachel are both standing there, and their faces immediately show disappointment when they don't see use in the middle of kissing.

"Really?" Rachel says as we stand up and walk out. "All you did was hug each other?"

I look over at James and see him smiling at me. I smile at him and respond to Rachel, "No, we didn't just hug. We also did this." I reach over to James and put both hands on his face and pull him down a little and kiss him. I hear people start cheering.

I pull away and he smirks at me. He chuckles, "That was pleasantly unexpected." I smile up at him, then reach for his hand and intertwine it with mine.

I look over at Rachel and Carlos, who are both standing there with huge smiles. "I so knew he likes you, Lauren! I told you so!" Rachel practically shouts at me, she's so excited.

I smile at her. "I guess you were right." I start walking back to my seat holding James' hand, which I swing back and forth happily. "Alright, let's continue with the game."

James sits down on the couch, and before I could sit next to him, he pulls me onto his lap and wraps his arms around me. I giggle at the affection he's showing me. I turn to look at him. "What was that for?"

He smiles at me. "Just showing my girlfriend the love that she deserves." He gives me a kiss on the cheek, and I blush slightly.

I look over at Rachel and Carlos as they sit back down in their spots. "Rachel, you're next."

She laughs as she jumps off the couch and walks to the bowl. "I already figured you would make me go next." She pulls out a piece of paper and reads the name. She smiles and looks over at Carlos. "Alright, let's go Carlos."

His jaw drops in surprise, but then he quickly leaps off the couch, smiling like an idiot. He runs over to the closet, and Rachel follows after him, laughing at his eagerness.

I lean my head on James' shoulder and smile. "Five bucks their going to end up kissing."

"Deal," he says and kisses the top of my head. "I don't think they will."

We sit and talk to everyone while we wait. After the seven minutes are up, Camille walks over and opens the door. Sure enough, they are kissing.

I laugh and turn to James. "Ha! I was right! You sir, owe me five bucks."

He starts to lean forward and I can see him looking at my lips. "How about I pay you a different way?" He kisses me sweetly. When he pulls away, he keeps his forehead resting against mine.

"Ok, that payment works," I say and smile. I kiss him quickly before pulling away. This night is so fantastic. James is now my boyfriend… I smile as I think about that.

And, the night has just begun.

~BTR~

I wake up and keep my eyes closed, and snuggle up against my pillow. I run my hand down the length of it and feel the well-defined abs. I smile and lay there for a minute, trying to go back to sleep.

Wait… Why does my pillow have abs?

I slowly open my eyes and squint against the light streaming in my windows. My head starts pounding as I look around. And I see that what I thought had been my pillow, was really the shirtless chest of James.

I sit up right away, trying to remember what happened last night. I remember being with James in the closet, and finding out that he likes me back. But I have no idea how I got in my room, and why James is laying there shirtless.

I glance down at him, and see the sheet is low enough that I can tell he's naked.

I jump off the bed and start pacing around my room, panicking. "Oh, god, what happened last night?" I mumble to myself as I go around and quickly get a shirt and sweatpants on.

I hear a buzzing come from my dresser. I walk over and see my phone vibrating with a call coming in. "Hello?" I say as I answer.

"Lauren, where are you? You were supposed to be at the studio an hour ago!"

I pull the phone away from my ear as Kelly yells. "Sorry, I just woke up!"

"Well why were you still sleeping? It's almost two," she says in a bit of a calmer voice.

"I had my party last night." I sit down on my bed, and the panic really starts to hit me. "Kelly, I don't remember what happened!"

"Ok, Lauren, relax," she says and I hear a door close from her side. "I'm sure nothing really bad happened."

I hesitate to answer and look over at James. "I wouldn't be so confident about that," I finally respond.

"Oh boy, what's wrong?"

I start stuttering, trying to figure out what to say. "James," I finally end up just saying.

"James?" she asks confused. "What about him?"

"He's sleeping in my bed right now. And he's naked."

She doesn't answer right away, but I can hear her start her car. "Ok, I'm going to be over there in a little bit to help you sort things out. You try to talk to James, ok? Figure out what happened."

"Please hurry," I say and hang up the phone. I set it back on my dresser, and then go back to my bed. I lay down next to James, trying not to think about what could have happened last night.

I look at him and can't help but smile at him. He looks so cute as he's sleeping, his hair slightly tussled and a slight smile turning up the corners of his lips.

I run my hand up and down his abs, admiring how well defined they are. After a few seconds, he grabs my hand and brings it up to his lips, kissing it. He smiles and keeps his eyes closed.

"Morning," I say quietly.

"Hello, beautiful." I smile at his comment. "I had the craziest dream last night that after the party, you and I…" he trails off as he opens his eyes and looks around my room. He looks at me, "That really happened?" he says slightly shocked.

I shrug my shoulders the best I can while laying on my side. "I don't know, James. You tell me."

He covers his eyes with his arm and shakes his head. "Oh my god, I can't believe that really happened. I'm so sorry, Lauren."

His tone of voice surprises me, how upset he sounds. "James, what happened last night?" I ask, wanting him to confirm what I'm thinking.

He just shakes his head and lays there. I sigh and move his arm from his face. With my other hand, I turn his face so he has to look at me. I stare into his eyes and know the answer to my question before I ask. "We had sex last night, didn't we?"

He nods his head and my breath catches. This is exactly what I feared. "I'm so sorry, Lauren. I was drunk and not in full control of my actions. And you were kinda throwing yourself at me, which made it really hard for me to not agree."

I sigh and lean back against my pillow, covering my face with my hands. "My first time, and I don't even remember," I mumble to myself.

"If it makes you feel any better, that was my first time too, and I don't entirely remember it either."

I don't respond and I hear him sigh. I can feel him move closer to me on the bed. "Lauren, look at me." I don't move, so he grabs my hands from my face and holds on to them. "I'm sorry that it happened like this. But I can't go back and change the past, so we'll have to live with it."

"I know," I say and sigh. "Well, at least it was with you and not some random guy." A thought hits me, and I'm surprised I didn't think of it soon. "Um, James?"

"Yeah?" he asks and smiles at me.

"Did you, um, use a…" I blush as I get embarrassed.

"Use a what?" he says, smiling at me, encouraging me to continue.

"Um, a condom?" I finally say and scrunch my face, super uncomfortable.

He laughs at me being so reluctant to ask that. "It's not funny, James!" I say and lightly smack his arm.

He stops laughing and looks at me. "You're right, it's not. But to answer your question, yes, I did. I at least wasn't that drunk to not remember to use one."

"Oh, ok. Good." I lean against his shoulder, and he wraps his arms around me. I lay there for a couple minutes, not really knowing what else to say.

"Anything else happen with me last night at the party that I should know about?" I ask him, a bit curious since I can't remember a good majority of the party.

I look up at him and see him scrunch his face. "Well, we played spin the bottle at one point. You had to kiss Carlos, and you both were so drunk that you kind of made out with him."

I lift my head off his chest to look at him in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"

He shakes his head. "That's not all. Later during truth or dare, you decided to pick dare, which wasn't a good idea. So the Jennifers dared you to give Logan a lap dance." The look on his face shows that he is quite jealous.

I groan as I lay my head back on him. "That's so embarrassing. Hopefully they were both so drunk they don't remember it."

"Most likely. Just try not to do that again; I might end up punching them in a rage of jealousy." He chuckles a bit and I can feel his chest shake.

I lay next to him for a few minutes, content in his arms. I smile as he starts to run one hand through my hair. We don't say anything for a bit, just enjoying being in each other's arms.

"Hey, Lauren?" James finally says.

I smile and look up at him. "Yeah?"

"This won't affect you being my girlfriend, will it?"

Instead of answering, I lean up and kiss him. He smiles as I pull away from him. "Does that answer your question?"

"Yes. Yes it does," he says and kisses me again.

After we pull apart, I jump of the bed. "Now, you need to get dressed because Kelly is going to be here in a few minutes to help sort everything out from the party."

I walk around the room and gather his clothes that were thrown all over. I toss them to where he's now sitting up on the bed. "Here, I'll turn around while you get dressed."

"You don't have to turn around," he says and winks at me. "You've already seen me naked."

"Yes, but I don't remember. So I'm turning around," I say while blushing. I turn and face my door and can hear him moving around.

"Are you almost done?" I ask after a minute, getting a bit impatient.

He doesn't respond. Instead, he wraps his arms around me, and kisses my cheek. "Yep."

"Ok let's go see how trashed my apartment is," I say as we start walking out of my room. We walk into the main area, and it's not too messed up. There's food and cups everywhere.

But then I see where the guys are all sleeping, and I can't help but laugh. Carlos is on the counter, surrounded by cups. Kendall is half on the couch, with his head on the floor. And Logan is just lying in the middle of the floor.

I walk over to Carlos as James goes over to Kendall. I shake him to wake up, and he jumps, knocking over all of the empty cups. He groans and holds his hands to his head as his hangover hits him. "Morning, sleepy head."

James wakes up Logan as Kendall looks at his phone. He gets a panicked look, and immediately starts calling someone. I look at him confused.

As he starts talking to the person, and I figure out it's his mom. Rachel walks out of her room, and she stretches her arms above her head as she yawns. "That was some party last night. I know someone sure had a lot of fun," she says and looks right at me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask her, but she just smirks and starts texting someone on her phone. When she stops, my phone vibrates with a text. I open it and see it's from her. "I could totes hear you and James last night."

My jaw drops open and I look at her. She burst out into laughter at my response. The guys look at her confused. She just shakes her head and responds, "Nothing, nothing."

She goes back to her phone and I wait for her text. James comes over and wraps his arms around me. My phone buzzes and I open the text right away. "I don't really care, though. I'm just so happy for you! And I'm totes jealous of you, James is quite a hottie."

I start texting my response as James says, "So when is Kelly going to be here?"

I finish saying, "Back off! He's mine ;)" to Rachel and look up at him. "Hm? Oh, she should be here any minute now."

The guys walk over and sit down at the counter. "So you guys are now dating?" Kendall asks, and I can see a bit of sadness in his face.

"Yep, we are," I reply and smile.

I glance at the text I just got from Rachel. "BTW, nice hickey."

I clutch my hand to my neck and start walking quickly to my room. "I'll be right back, just got to go to the bathroom!" I shout as I run into my room.

I go to the mirror and stare at my neck. Sure enough, right there is a large hickey. I grab my make up and start putting concealer on it. "Oh my god, why didn't James say anything to me?"

"Why didn't I say what?" he asks, and I jump, not knowing he was there.

I glance at him in the mirror. "Why didn't you say anything about my large hickey?" I ask and point at my neck.

"Oh, um, well, I-" he's cut-off by the sound of Kelly entering the apartment.

"Lucky you, Kelly's here." I glance at the mirror, and decide that it's covered up enough. "Oh well, let's go."

We walk back out and James grabs my hand. I smile up at him, and then look over at Kelly.

"There you are," she says and looks at me and James. "Everything fine?"

"Everything is great," I say and smile at her.

"Ok, good. Now, I told you uncle that you weren't feeling well, and that's why you couldn't make it today. But he's going to expect you to be there tomorrow."

I go up to her and hug her. "Thank you so much! Now, can you help me clean up around here?"

We all start going around the apartment, cleaning up the spilled food and all of the cups. By time we end up finishing, it's 4:54.

"Thanks so much for helping, Kelly," I say as she starts to leave.

"Oh it's no problem. I'll see you tomorrow," she says and leaves.

I turn to look back at the guys. "We would love to stay, Lauren, but my mom really wants us home now," Kendall says.

Kendall, Carlos, and Logan all start walking to the door. "Alright, I'll see you guys tomorrow," I say as they leave.

Rachel has gone over to the couch as James walks up to me and hugs me. "Tomorrow after you get done at the studio, we're going to go on a date, ok?"

I look up at him and smile. I wrap my arms around his neck. "Can't wait." I stand on my toes and kiss him.

He smiles as we pull apart. "Bye, Lauren," he says and leaves the apartment.

I smile about kissing him. I still can't believe I'm dating him. I walk over to the couch, smiling like a fool and sit down next to Rachel.

She turns to me and smiles. "Details, now!"

"About what?"

She smacks me lightly on the arm. "You know exactly what I'm talking about! What happened with you and James last night in your room?"

"Oh, that," I say and chuckle at her. "Well, I can't really give you details, because I don't even remember what happened. It's all a blacked-out blur."

She frowns a bit at this. "But did you and James talk about what happened?"

I sigh before responding. "Yes, we did. And apparently, we had sex."

She squeals out of excitement. "Really?" I nod my head. "Too bad you can't remember, I bet he looks really hot naked."

"Rachel!" I say and hit her lightly.

She laughs, "I'm just messing with you, Lauren!"

I smile at her. "Of course. So what do you want to do tonight?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "Eh, let's just watch some movies."

"Sounds good to me," I reply and jump of the couch to put movies in and get popcorn.

The rest of the night we spend watching the movies Bridesmaids and Friends With Benefits, and laugh our butts off until we fall asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12:**

"So, L-dog, my boss Griffin called yesterday to tell me what he wants for your next song," my uncle says when he sees me enter the studio. "So he wants a song that's about partying, and has the word Friday in it."

I drop my purse on the couch and sit down. "So I'm guessing you have a song written already?"

Kelly hands him some music which he gives to me. "We're going to run through this a couple times."

I look over the lyrics, and can't help but think this song is horrible. I mean, who writes a song with lyrics like, 'It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday.' But I don't say anything to my uncle, because he gets super offended when anyone says anything bad about his songs.

I walk into the recording booth and get ready to sing the song. Gustavo starts the music and I sing along. "Seven A.M. waking up in the morning. Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs."

As I continue singing, I notice his expression turning to one of pain. So about halfway through the song he stops the music.

"That is the worst song ever," I say.

"I know that!" He shouts back. "So help me write a good song! Your song you wrote was good, so help me now."

I sigh as I walk out of the recording booth. I sit down next to him. "Ok what do you think of when you hear Friday?"

"I don't think about anything, it's just an average day of the week."

I sigh at him. "That's why you don't know how to write a song about Friday. When I think about that day, I think about having fun and going out partying. And also how you sometimes have those parties where you can't remember what happened because it's a blacked-out blur, but you're pretty sure it still ruled."

"Ok, what else happens at parties? And how do you know this?"

"Personal experience," I respond. "Basically parties are just about having a good time, doing some crazy things, maybe kissing someone. And then you can't help but look forward to the next time you party, even if the last was beyond crazy."

His face lights up and he stares off. "I've got the song. It'll be called 'Last Friday Night'. Ok let's get this song written."

~BTR~

I walk out of Rocque Records, happy with the song my uncle and I just wrote. I hop in my car, and turn the radio on before leaving the parking lot. I scream a bit when I hear the song playing. I turn up the volume, and start singing along.

I roll down all of the windows to ensure that everyone would hear Sparks Fly playing. I sing along on the way back, and wait a bit in my car before getting out to finish listening to the song. After it's over, I hear Ryan Seacrest start talking about it. "Alright that was Sparks Fly by upcoming artist Lauren Rocque. She's starting to make a name for herself in the music business. I saw her perform last week when she opened for Big Time Rush, and let me just say, she's going to be one to watch. Surely she will be a top artist soon."

The next song starts playing, and I turn off my car. I smile as I get out. Ryan Seacrest was talking about me singing! And my song was on the radio.

I skip happily into the lobby and Bitters glares at me. I wait in front of the elevator to go up to my floor and get a text. I smile when I see it's James. 'Hey, meet me in the Palmwoods Park whenever you get back.'

I smile and respond to him quickly. 'I just got back. I'll be there in a few minutes.'

I walk to the park and start looking around for him. I finally see him standing in a secluded area. I go over to him and see a blanket set out with a picnic. "Is this our date?"

He smiles and wraps his arms around me. "Part of it," he says and kisses me.

I smile as he pulls away. "Well let's enjoy this nice picnic, then," I say and sit down on the blanket. He sits next to me and starts to get food out of the basket.

He hands me a sandwich and I take a bite. I lean against his shoulder.

"So how was everything at the studio?"

"Good," I reply and have another bite of my sandwich. "I helped my uncle write a song since he didn't know how to write a song for Griffin about partying and with the word Friday in it."

He laughs and I feel his shoulder shake. He wraps an arm around me and leans back on the other. "That's not the first time that's happened."

We sit in silence for a little while just eating the food. "So, I really like your friends from the movie that were at the party," James says after a bit.

"Yeah they're all great. We're one big happy family."

"You know, Jack actually said he thinks of you as a sister when I was talking to him."

I turn my head and look up at him. "I forgot about that. He didn't tell you any embarrassing stories, did he?"

"No," he says, trying to hide a smile. "Ok just a couple. Like about that one time Amandla took your clothes while you were in the shower and you were chasing after her in the hotel wearing only a towel."

I groan, remembering that time, and James starts laughing. "But he also told me about how badass you were doing the fighting scenes."

"Yeah, that's right. So don't mess with me," I say and jokingly punch him in the stomach.

He grabs my hand and starts laughing. He lays back, pulling me with him. I stare at him while he looks up at the trees above us. I run my hand along the side of his face and hold it there. He looks at me and I smile. I lean up and kiss him gently.

James smiles when I pull away. "So do you like your date so far?"

"I'd like any date, as long as I was with you," I respond.

I lay against him for a while, happy to be in his arms. "So the premiere for the Hunger Games is in just over a month, and I was wondering if you want to go with me?"

"I'd love to. No way would I miss seeing my girl on the big screen for the first time." He kisses the top of my head before sitting up. I give him a confused look. "Time for part 2 of your date."

We gather up the things and start slowly walking back to the hotel holding hands. "So do I get to know what this next part is?"

He glances over and smiles. "Nope, it's a surprise. But you're going to go back to your place, and Rachel will give you selective details about getting ready."

I smile at him as we walk into the hotel and wait at the elevator. "Alright, I like surprises."

We go up to his floor and he kisses me before leaving. "I'll see you in a little bit."

"Alright, bye," I say as the doors close. I go up to my floor, and when I walk into my apartment, I see Rachel waiting for me.

"Good, you're back," she says as she grabs my arm and starts dragging me to my room. "We have a lot to do before you leave."

We walk in my room and I see the new dress Carlos bought me for my birthday sitting on my bed. "Am I wearing that tonight?"

"Yes, you are," she responds. "Now, I'm going to go in your bathroom and get make-up and stuff ready for you while you change, ok?"

She walks into the bathroom and I pick up the dress. I change quickly then go into the bathroom to see tons of make-up sprawled across the counter and the curling iron plugged in. "Alright, sit," Rachel says when she sees me and points to the stool I keep in there.

She starts curling my hair and we sit in silence for a while. Rachel eventually speaks up. "So, on Friday, I have to fly to New York for Fashion Week."

I knew this was going to happen eventually, her having to leave. But I wasn't ready for how sad it would make me. "I'm going to miss you. I've had so much fun with you staying here, and I don't want you to go."

"I really don't want to leave either," she responds sadly.

I sit and think about all the fun times I've had with her and the guys over the past couple of weeks. And I know that I don't want them to end. "Hey Rachel, I've got an idea."

She looks at me a bit confused. "What is it?"

"Well, why don't you just stay with me when you get back? There's more than enough room for you to live with me. You can just leave whenever you have a modeling job in New York."

Her face lights up with a huge smile. "Really? You'd let me stay here with you?"

"Of course. You're my best friend," I say and smile at her.

She sets the curling iron down and hugs me. "Lauren, thank you so much!" She goes back to finish getting me ready, in a much better mood.

Rachel finally finishes, and looks at the clock. "Ooo, I finished just in time."

"Just in time for-" I start to ask but I hear a knock on the door. I go over and open it. James is standing there, dressed in semi-formal attire.

"You look beautiful," he says and pulls me towards him and kisses me.

I smile at him. "You don't look too bad yourself."

I close the apartment door behind me and we start walking to the elevators. We make it down to the lobby quickly. I hold his hand as we start walking out to the parking lot. "So I'm guessing we're going out to eat somewhere, judging by what we're wearing."

"That would be a pretty good guess," he replies as we get to his silver car. We get in and he starts driving to the mystery location. I stare out the window smiling, while James holds my hand.

After driving for a bit, we get to one of the busiest areas of LA. James finds a parking spot, and I look around, trying to find a restaurant that we could be going to. I look back at him confused when I don't see any.

James smiles at me. "I figured we could go for a bit of a walk together before we get to the restaurant. It's only a short distance up the street." He gets out of the car and quickly makes his way to my door and opens it. He holds a hand out for me and helps me out of the car.

We start slowly walking down the street. I hold on to his hand and swing it back and forth. I look up at him and smile. "This is already a fantastic date."

He smiles happily at me. "Well, I did plan it. So of course it's going to be fantastic," he jokingly says.

I smile and shake my head slightly at him joking. I look around at all of the billboards and posters lining the street. I see a collection of them that makes me stop right in my tracks.

James stops and looks at me confused. "What's wrong, Lauren?"

I start grinning and run over to the large poster of myself as Glimmer next to posters of other characters in the Hunger Games. I point to the poster and jump a bit in excitement. "Look! It's me, on a poster!"

I look back at the poster and smile in excitement over it. James walks over and looks at it, before turning to me and getting his phone out. "C'mon, let's take a picture of you with it."

"Ok," I agree and stand next to it. I point and smile at it while he takes the picture. He walks back over to me and I loop my arm through his as we continue walking.

He stays on his phone doing something for a few minutes. I finally get curious, "Whatcha doing?"

James glances over at me quickly and smiles mischievously. "Oh, nothing." He puts his phone away and smiles as he stops us in front of a restaurant. "Alright, we're here."

We walk in, and the receptionist asks us if we have a reservation. James quickly responds, "Yes, two for Diamond."

She checks her list and grabs two menus and leads us to a secluded table. I sit down and start looking at the food on the menu, and the really high prices. "James," I say.

"Hmm?" He asks, still looking at the menu.

"These prices are really expensive."

He looks up and smiles at me. He grabs one of my hands from across the table. "It doesn't matter, Lauren. Order anything you want."

"Are you sure?" I ask hesitantly. He doesn't respond but gives me a look saying he doesn't mind.

"Ok then," I reply and look back at the menu. I decide what to order, and our waiter comes back and we order.

I lean forward and grab both of James' hands, and smile at him. "Thanks for this date, James."

"You're welcome, Lauren. Expect many more dates like this in the future; I plan on showering you in love."

I blush and smile at him. I lean towards him and kiss him lightly. As we pull apart, I hear my phone vibrate in my purse with a text. I frown and grab it quickly. "Sorry, I thought I turned it off."

I open up the text when I see it's from Rachel, figuring it's probably important. 'Go check your twitter '

I look up at James confused and start to get on my twitter app. "Why is Rachel telling me to check my twitter?"

"What? I have no idea what she is talking about," he says, obviously trying to cover something up.

I start looking at my mentions and seeing a huge amount of tweets, beyond the normal amount I get. And many of them are asking the same thing: "Are you and James dating?"

I sigh and look up at James whose smiling at me. "What did you do, and why are all these people asking me if we're dating?"

I stare him down, and he eventually cracks and tells me. "Well, I sorta might have, maybe tweeted that picture I took of you next to your poster."

"Oh, well that's not that bad," I say as I get to his twitter account and look at his tweets. But I'm a bit surprised by what he tweeted.

"'Can't wait to see my girl laurenrocque in the Hunger Games next month'," I read aloud. I look up at him, and he's smirking at me. "You tweeted that I'm 'your girl'?" I ask, and pretend to be serious.

James believes that I'm upset about this, and grabs my hand. "Hey, is that a problem? Because I can go and delete that tweet if you want."

I stare at him for a minute, but eventually start smiling at him. He realizes that I was joking with him and starts laughing. "It's no problem, James. Actually, I kinda like the sound of that."

"What, you being my girl?" He asks seriously.

"Exactly that," I respond and lean in to kiss him again. We pull apart and I smile at him sweetly. "How did I end up getting so lucky as to have you as my boyfriend?"

"I ask myself that too." He pauses and adds, "Well, how lucky I got to have you as my girlfriend." He laughs lightly and smiles. The waiter walks over with our food and sets the plates down in front of us. James picks up his fork to start eating, but I start tweeting something. "What are you doing now?"

"Just tweeting that yes, you are my boyfriend so people stop spamming my mentions asking me," I say and hit send for my tweet. I put my phone away and look up at him smiling. "Now, let's enjoy this delicious food, shall we?"

~BTR~

We walk back into my apartment. I clutch my stomach which feels like it's about to explode. "Ugh, I ate way too much food," I groan as I plop down on the couch.

I stretch out as James walks over. He lies down next to me and wraps his arms around me and I place my head on his shoulder. "Well, you didn't have to eat everything. We could have brought home leftovers."

"But it was so good! I didn't want to leave any there." I cuddle up closer to him and smile. "But it's all better now."

"And why is that?" He asks and I can hear the smile in his voice. He starts running his hand through my hair.

"Because I'm lying next to probably the sweetest boyfriend ever," I say and tilt my head to look at him. He leans in and kisses me sweetly.

"Aww, you two are so adorable!" I hear Rachel say.

I pull away from James and look over at her. "Rachel, can't you leave, or something?"

She laughs as she grabs her purse from the counter. "I was actually just getting ready to leave to go hang out with Carlos."

"Hey, don't go stealing my best friend!" I jokingly say. I glance over at the clock and realize that it's almost 10:00. "Why are you going to go hang out with Carlos at almost 10 at night?"

I can see the faintest hint of pink on her cheeks and she looks down smiling. "Well, him and the other guys are bored since you and James are too busy being all adorable and happy together, so they invited me over."

"Ok, well, have fun," I say as she leaves the apartment. She waves bye at me over her shoulder.

I turn back to James and lay back down on his chest. I listen to his heart beating and feeling the rising of his chest as he breathes. The steady beat starts to lull me into sleep.

"Hey, Lauren?" James asks quietly.

"Hmm," I say, having been almost asleep.

"Do you want me to take you to your bed so you can sleep?"

"No, right here is comfy. Can't you just stay the night?" I ask and smile up at him.

"If you want me to," he responds and smiles. I lie back down and smile to myself as I feel his arms tighten around me. He kisses the top of my head. "You can go to sleep now if you want, Lauren."

"Alright, night, James," I say, already almost asleep. I smile as I drift off into sleep, content in James' arms.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13:**

I set the heavy suitcase down on the ground and close the trunk. I lean against it and turn to look at Rachel. "Ok, are you sure you have everything you need?"

She pats her suitcase and smiles. "Yep, I didn't need to pack too much since the fashion designers are pretty much going to be dressing me the entire time. And I have my phone and laptop in my bag so I'm all set."

"Alright." I pause and reach into my bag and pull out two cds and hand them to her. "Ok here are all of my songs, as per request. It has the four songs from the concert, and the three newer ones, Last Friday Night, Teenage Dream, and Naturally." She smiles as she looks at it. "And then there's the guys' new album. Be careful with that, it's not supposed to be out until next Friday. I haven't even listened to all of the songs yet."

Rachel puts the cds in her purse, and then throws her arms around me in a tight hug. "Lauren, I'm going to miss you."

"I know," I say as I rub her back comfortingly. "But it's only two weeks. You're going to be so busy that it'll fly by." I pull away and keep my hands on her shoulders, smiling at her. "Now, you need to get checked in. You are going to be great."

I turn her around and give her a slight push towards the door. She grabs her suitcase and walks over to the door, pausing to turn around and wave before walking in.

I sigh and turn around to my car. I hop in and start driving out of the airport and heading back to the Palmwoods. I end up getting stuck in traffic during the short drive. I put all the windows down and prop my arm on the side of the door. I rest my head on my hand and stare out the window bored.

I glance around at the billboards while slowly moving forward. I see one for Big Time Rush and their second album. I can't help but smile when I see James' picture there. The poster reminds me that I have a copy of their cd with me.

I grab the cd from the cup holder and pop it in the stereo. The first song to start playing is Music Sounds Better With U, but I skip over it, wanting to hear their new songs. The next one starts playing and it's really catchy. And I notice that James' voice sounds really good in it.

When I come to a stop at the next light, I look at the cd case to figure out what the song is called. Superstar. I set the case down and turn the music up louder because it's a really good song.

I continue listening to the cd, and end up hearing all of the songs by time I get back to the Palmwoods. I sigh as I finally get out of the car, annoyed at having sat in traffic for over 45 minutes.

I enter the building and start walking through the lobby. As I pass the entrance to the pool, I look out and see James laying there in the sun. I smile at him and start walking over. My breath catches as I look at his bare torso. He's all mine, too.

I stand next to his lounge chair, and he hasn't noticed I'm there since his eyes are closed. I block the sun from hitting his face, and he starts frowning. "Excuse me, you're blocking my sun. If you haven't noticed, it's James Diamond tanning time."

I put my hands on my hips, not moving, waiting for him to see it's me. After a minute of not moving, he sighs and sits up, squinting to see who's blocking the sun. "Seriously, you couldn't have moved?" He finally sees it's me and smiles. "Lauren, you're back already! Sorry, I thought you were some annoying person."

I smile and sit down on the chair next to him. "I was stuck in traffic for over 45 minutes."

His face turns to one of surprise. "Really? It felt like it was only 20 minutes that I've been out here." He chuckles before lying back down, pulling me with him. "Well I'm sorry that you had to wait in traffic for that long."

I lean against his chest and wrap an arm around him. "Eh, it wasn't too bad because I finally got to listen to your second album. I have to say, it was totally awesome."

"What did you think of the song Elevate?"

"Definitely one of my favorites."

"Not surprising, seeing as I helped write it," he says jokingly arrogant.

I look up at him in shock. "You wrote that song? It's so good!"

James runs a hand through my hair and smiles. "Well I'm glad you like it." He leans in and kisses me lightly. I wrap my arms around his neck, deepening the kiss.

"Get a room, you two!" I hear someone jokingly shout and several people laughing.

I look up and see the guys sitting on chairs next to us. I glance back at James and wink at him quickly before turning back to Carlos. "Well, since you're out of 2J, Mama Knight's at yoga, and Katie is with Tyler, the apartment is now empty. So I think we'll just go to that room." I hop off the chair and grab James' hand and pull him up. We start walking back into the hotel and James puts his arm around my waist.

"Ew guys, we were joking!" Kendall yells at us.

"See you later, Kendall!" I shout and wave over my shoulder. I start laughing when we're out of their sight.

James looks over at me and smiles. "You're quite mischievous, aren't you?"

I shrug my shoulders and smile as we get into the elevator. "Well I figured if I did that then we can have some time just to ourselves," I say as we step out onto the floor.

"So, Mr. Diamond, whatever are we going to do with this apartment all ours?" I ask when we walk in the empty apartment.

"Well, Miss Rocque," he jokingly copies me. "There's something I wanted to do the other night after our date, but someone fell asleep right away."

He walks over to the couch and sits down. I follow right behind him and sit next to me. "Hey, you were the one who took me to that restaurant and fed me that yummy food."

James gives me a look saying my argument will be useless. I sigh and lay down. "So what do you have in mind for us to do?"

"You'll see," he says and smiles before jumping off the couch and running to his room. "Stay there, I'll be back in a minute."

I stare up at the ceiling, wondering what he could have in mind.

~BTR~

I walk back and forth in front of the TV, quoting the movie Mulan. James is laughing hysterically on the couch at me trying to sound like a man while singing along to the song I'll Make A Man Out of You.

I start laughing when I see James fall of the couch, clutching his side from laughing so much. I go back to the couch and help him back up and sit next to him.

"You know, I didn't believe you at first when you said you knew every line to this movie," James says when he finally catches his breath. "But that was really hilarious."

I jokingly bow. "Thank you, thank you. I do my best to bring humor to people." I smile at him and lean against his shoulder.

I hear the door slowly open and look over to see Carlos peeking his head in. "Hello?" he shouts out.

"Hey Carlos," I shout and wave.

He gets a relieved looked on his face when he sees us just sitting on the couch. He opens the door all the way and walks in with Kendall and Logan. "We were worried that you were actually going to be doing something when we came back."

James laughs as they come over to the couch. "Nope, we've just been here watching some of the old Disney movies." He smirks at Carlos. "Were you hoping we were doing something so you could join us?" he asks and winks.

"James, gross!" I say and smack him on the arm.

Carlos shakes his head and lightly punches James. "You have a sick mind, my friend."

"Hey, I was joking! Apparently no one around here can take a joke."

I blush and look up at him. "I knew you were joking, but I just didn't appreciate what you were joking about."

Carlos scrunches his face as he looks at James. "Yeah man, I'm getting way too many wrong images in my head right now."

I shake my head as thoughts uncontrollably start coming into my head. "Carlos, why did you have to say something! Ugh, so many wrong images."

Kendall, James, and Logan all start laughing at us. The door opens and Mama Knight is standing there flustered while holding pizza. "Boys, can one of you help me please?"

Kendall jumps off the couch and grabs the pizza from his mom. I get up to help her set the table. "Oh, Lauren, you don't have to help. One of the boys can do that."

I smile at her as I set the plates down on the table. "It's no problem, Mama Knight. I like helping out."

She places a hand on my shoulder and smiles. "Thank you, sweetie. It's nice to have someone around here that does things to help without me asking."

"Hey, we do plenty to help out!" Carlos says offended as he sits at the table and starts getting food.

Mrs. Knight places her hands on her hips and raises an eyebrow at him. "Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Oh you know," he says trying to think of something. "Stuff!"

We all laugh at him as we sit down at the table. Katie walks in and sits down. "Where's Rachel? I figured she would be here."

I pause in the middle of eating my pizza. "Oh she had to go to New York today for fashion week. But she'll be back in two weeks."

"Cool I'm going to try to see if she can convince some of her modeling friends to let me be their manager."

"Katie, enough with trying to manage celebrities," Mama Knight says and looks at her sternly.

"Fine," she mumbles before taking a bite of pizza. She doesn't say anything for the rest of dinner.

After we finish eating, the guys all run over to the couch to claim a spot. They spread out, leaving no room for me when I walk over. "Thanks guys for leaving me a place to sit."

I sit on the ottoman and cross my arms, waiting for Kendall to start whatever movie he picked. As he walks back over to the couch, I feel a pair of arms wrap around me. "Hey, you don't have to sit here," James whispers into my ear. "You can come sit on my lap."

I sigh and let him pull me over to the couch. I rest my head on his shoulder and smile a bit. "Ok, this seating can work," I say quietly so only James can hear.

He kisses the top of my head lightly. I look over at Kendall whose starting the movie. "So what did you pick this time?"

"A new documentary on hockey."

"Yes!" Carlos cheers in excitement. Even Logan looks excited about this choice.

I groan, already knowing that I'm going to be bored out of my mind. "Did you have to pick this Kendall?"

"Would you rather be watching a horror movie?"

"Yes I would. And I hate scary movies."

"Well too bad, we're watching this," he replies with a smirk and turns back to the TV.

I sigh as the documentary starts. I try to watch it, but get super bored after five minutes. I never really was a big fan of hockey.

I take my head off of James' shoulder and look at him; maybe he'll distract me from boredom. "James."

"Hmm," he responds after a minute.

"I'm bored," I whisper, trying not to let the guys hear me so they won't get mad.

"Can't you just watch this?" he asks while staring at the TV. Obviously he is way into the movie.

I sigh and grab my phone out of my pocket. I go on twitter and start tweeting. 'That awkward moment when your boyfriend jamesdiamond is more focused on watching a hockey documentary than paying attention to you'

I send it and fans start replying right away. A lot of people are asking if I'm with the guys, so I lean back and take a picture of all four of them. I send it, saying 'Yes, I'm with the guys. It's movie night (:'

After a few minutes, I send another tweet, 'Oh and how about the fact that jamesdiamond hasn't realized I'm tweeting about him, when he's right next to me.'

I have an idea of a way to kill time. 'Ok I have an idea. Since I'm super bored with this hockey documentary, I'm going to answer some questions. Ask away! (: #asklauren"

A huge amount of tweets start coming in to my mentions. A lot are the same, asking if James and I really are dating. Some people ask questions about filming the Hunger Games and the cast. Others ask about when my album will be out. I try to respond to as many questions as possible.

After a while, I check the worldwide trends, and see that '#asklauren' is the second trend. I quickly tweet about it. 'Wow, you guys are awesome! #asklauren is trending worldwide :D love you all!"

I glance at the TV and realize that the documentary is over. "That went by quickly."

Logan looks at me confused. "What are you talking about? It was an hour and a half long."

"Really?" They all nod their heads. "Oh well I had been tweeting the whole time, answering a lot of questions from fans." I smile thinking about how much people were tweeting me.

Carlos goes on his phone, and after a minute he looks at me in shock. "You have a trending topic? That's awesome!"

I shrug and smile. "Yeah it's pretty cool. So what are we going to watch next? I really hope it's not something boring."

Carlos jumps off the couch and grabs a dvd. He holds it out. "We're gonna watch Clash of the Titans."

I roll my eyes at his choice. "Of course, something with fighting. But at least it's not another hockey documentary."

I turn back to my twitter on my phone and see people still asking questions. 'Alright, I've had a lot of fun, but I have to go! We're gonna watch Clash of the Titans now! Hopefully there'll be some shirtless men ;)'

I put my phone away and see the guys walking towards their rooms. "C'mon, let's go get our pajamas on," James says to me.

I stand up and look at him. "I don't have anything, because I've been here all afternoon."

He grabs my hand and starts leading me in the direction the other guys went. He smiles over his shoulder at me. "You can just borrow something from me."

He opens up a door, and Carlos screams in shock when he sees me. He frantically tries to get something to cover himself up, since he's only in his boxers. I look away and cover my eyes.

"James, there's this things called knocking!"

"Hey, it's my room too," James replies and walks over to his dresser. I follow him, and stay turned away from where I can hear Carlos rustling as he changes.

"I'm sorry, Carlos. I didn't know you two share a room. Otherwise, I would have stayed out in the hall."

I hear him walk over and he puts a hand on my shoulder. I turn around hesitantly and see him fully changed. "It's ok, Lauren. It's not your fault." He pointedly glares over at James, who is cheering triumphantly at finding something for me.

James hands me the shirt and shorts smiling, oblivious to Carlos as he walks out of the room. "Alright, here are clothes for you. I'm just going to go change in the bathroom or invade Kendall and Logan's room, and you can stay here." He kisses me quickly before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

I quickly change into his clothes, noticing right away that they smell like him, with a faint hint of 'Cuda spray. I toss my clothes on his bed, figuring I can just grab them later. I go on my phone as I leave the room, getting back on twitter. I scroll through my timeline, noticing a tweet from James. 'laurenrocque if you want to see shirtless guys, I could totally just take my shirt off ;)'

My jaw drops open when I see him so publicly saying that. I quickly tweet him back, even though I'm about to be in the same room as him. 'jamesdiamond I'll keep that offer in mind ;)'

I sit down on the couch and look at the huge amount of fan girls tweeting James saying that he should take his shirt off. I laugh as a trending topic quickly is 'shirtless James'. I show him this when he sits down and he laughs at it. He wraps his arms around me, "Don't worry, I'll only take my shirt off for you."

"Good to know." I kiss him quickly before turning back to the movie starting. I rest my head on his shoulders and he tightens his arms around my waist.

We watch the movie for a while. James starts placing light kisses on my neck. "Do you want me to take my shirt off now?" He whispers against my neck.

Shivers travel down my spine. I turn my head to look at him, and he kisses me before I can say anything. I protest at first, but give into his kiss after a few seconds. I start kissing him back, running a hand through his hair. His hands run across my back, and start to play with the bottom of my shirt. I pull away to stop him. I put my hands on his chest and stare right into his eyes. "James, stop. I don't want to go there. Not for a while."

He smiles and kisses my forehead. "I totally understand." He suddenly pulls me close to him in a tight hug. I giggle and cuddle up next to him. I turn back to the movie, and start watching it again. Halfway through it, I feel my eyes start to droop with sleepiness. I start dozing off for a bit.

I feel someone lightly shake me out of my sleep. I look up confused to see James smiling at me adoringly. "Lauren, the movies over. Time to go to sleep."

"But I already was sleeping," I mumble before resting my head back on his chest and closing his eyes. I feel his chest rumble with laughter, then his arms wrap around me. He suddenly picks me up and starts carrying me. "James, what are you doing?" I say through a yawn.

"I'm not going to let you just sleep on the couch by yourself. So you're going to sleep with me." He looks down and smiles at me as he walks into his room. "If that's ok with you."

I smile up at him. "Of course it's ok with me. Now I have someone to cuddle with."

James gently sets me down on his bed under the covers and lays down next to me. He wraps his arms around me, and I move as close to him as I can, resting my head on his chest. "Good night, Lauren."

"Good night, James," I mumble as the rhythmic beating of his heart lulls me to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14:**

I start walking back up to my apartment, pulling my bag up on my shoulder. I step into the elevator, and I hear Elevate start playing. I grab my phone out of my pocket and see Rachel calling. "Hey, what's up?" I say as I answer it.

"Not much," she responds. The elevator stops at my floor and I walk out as she continues. "So I decided to see what you were up to."

"Well, I just got done working out at the gym for a little while," I reply as I unlock my apartment and head in. I toss my bag on the ground and walk to my room. "And in a little bit I'm going to get ready for dinner tonight with James."

"Aww, how are you and James?"

I smile as I lie down on my bed and stare at the ceiling. "He's great. The sweetest boyfriend ever."

"Have you done anything with him?" I can tell from her voice that she's smirking.

"No, Rachel!" I say offended. "We've only been dating for a month. And if you only called to talk about my sex life, which is nonexistent, then I'm going to go."

"Wait, I'll stop talking about that!" She says in a panic.

I smile as I respond. "I know."

"You're so mean, Lauren."

"No, I'm not. You know you love me."

"…Yeah I do." I hear someone start talking to her. "Hold on a sec, Lauren."

I stare at the ceiling while she talks to the person. I think about how the past month as flown by. In only a week the Hunger Games is premiering; my album is coming out in three weeks and I only had one more song left to record; and I had already been dating James for a month. I smile as I recall all the sweet things he's done for me.

"Hey, I'm back," Rachel finally says after a couple minutes. "So I have to get back to work early. I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's no problem. You've got to go do your job. Besides, I'll be seeing you in three days when you get back."

"Alright, I'll see ya then, Lauren. Love ya!" she says.

"Love ya too, Rachel," I say and hang up the phone. I sigh and glance at the time on my phone, and see I have two hours before James is coming to get me for dinner.

I slide off the bed and walk into the bathroom, and start running the water to warm it up. Once it's warm, I quickly strip off my clothes and jump in the shower. I quickly shower, wanting to finish getting ready as soon as possible.

When I finish, I step out and wrap a towel around myself before walking back into my room. I open my closet and stare at the clothes, trying to figure out what dress to wear. I push aside the garment bag with my dress for the movie premiere and start going through the dresses. I pause when I get to a new dark green dress that I bought recently. I pull it out slightly to look at it, before deciding to wear it.

I put it on and tie the brown sash that's right below my chest. I poof out the bottom a bit before looking in the mirror, satisfied with the dress. It's strapless and goes to about mid-thigh, poofing out at the bottom.

I walk back into the bathroom and start brushing out my hair. I carefully braid it into a French braid across the back of my head to the side. After I finish, I set out all my make up and start getting ready. I go with dark brown eyeshadow to bring out the green in my eyes and emphasize the brown in the dress. I finish and brush my teeth before walking out of the bathroom. I slip on a pair of brown flats, then walk out of my bedroom grabbing my purse from the dresser.

I glance at the time, realizing that I have over a half hour before James should be here. I sit down on the couch and look around, trying to think of something to do. My eyes land on the Wii, and I stand up and walk over quickly. I grab a remote and turn it on, putting the new Just Dance game in. I haven't had a chance to play it since it came out a week ago, and now is a perfect time.

I get to the menu and start looking through the songs. I scream lightly in excitement when I see that Elevate is on here. I select it right away, and start dancing and singing along. I laugh when I keep messing up.

Once the song is over, I realize that I did horrible. "How could I do so bad at a song by my best friends?" I mumble to myself.

I restart the song, determined to perfect the dance. I go through the song a couple times before I finally get a good score.

"Yes! Victory is mine!" I shout and fist pump. I hear someone start laughing and I frantically turn around, holding my hands in front of me to protect myself. I relax when I see James standing in the doorway.

He starts walking over, a smile on his face. I jokingly hold my hand over my heart. "Way to nearly give me a heart attack."

He wraps his arms around me in a tight hug. "I'm sorry. What can I do to make it up to you?"

I look up at him and smile. "Oh, you could just take me out to dinner at a nice restaurant. That sounds good."

He lets go and intertwines his fingers with mine. "That I can do."

I toss the wii remote on the couch and turn the console off. I grab my purse and we start walking down to the lobby. I swing his arm with mine and smile up at him.

James smiles back at me and leans down to kiss me as we wait for the elevator. I pull away smiling when I hear the doors open. We walk in, and James wraps his arms around my waist. "You look so beautiful tonight."

I blush and turn my head to look at him. "Really?"

"Yes, absolutely gorgeous," he replies and kisses me quickly on the cheek as the doors open at the lobby. We walk out and start heading to the parking lot. I smile and wave at Lucy and Camille when we pass them in the lobby.

"So what kind of restaurant are we going to tonight?" I ask as we approach his car.

James stops at his door. "Italian," he replies before opening the door and getting in.

I open my door and start to get in, but stop when I see a book sitting on the passenger seat. I pick it up and smile at him. "When did you start reading the Hunger Games?"

He shrugs as he starts the car. "About a week ago. I wanted to make sure I knew what happened before we see the movie next week." I slide into the car and he starts driving out of the parking lot. "Logan was terrified to let me borrow the book. He seemed to think I would destroy it since I never read."

"I'm sure he was overreacting, like usual," I say and toss the book onto the back seat. I turn to look at him excited. "So what part are you at? What do you think of it so far?"

"It's down to the final three right now. Honestly, I kinda wanted to stay home and just read tonight." He looks at me quickly then turns away, smiling sheepishly. "But I think the book is so fantastic. And I was kind of mad at Katniss when she killed Glimmer, because I was picturing you as her in my head."

I look over him and smile. "Really?"

He comes to a stop at a stop light and looks at me. He grabs my hand and smiles. "Of course. I want to do anything to make sure you're safe and to protect you."

James looks back at the light and it changes to green. He starts driving and glances at me and smiles. His face drops to one of fear as he looks past me, and he turns the steering wheel quickly, trying to move the car over.

I turn to look and see blinding lights before I feel the sharp impact. Things go black, and I can faintly here someone shouting my name, but it seems like the voice is far away. Then everything fades away.

~BTR~

I slowly come to my senses, knowing right away I was in a foreign place. I try to open my eyes, but the lids feel heavy, so I give up for now. I hear the steady beeping of machines and I smell the strong scent of antiseptics. I must be in the hospital. But why?

Someone is sitting to my left on the bed and holding on to my hand. Someone on my right, or perhaps the same person, runs a hand over my hair soothingly. I feel something bulky on my right arm and right leg, and I'm confused as to what it could be. There's a dull pounding in my head, and my chest hurts every time I breathe.

I tune into the people talking around me. "This is all my fault," the person to my left says.

"No it isn't, James. How were you supposed to stop that drunk driver from running the red light?" The person who replied is the one on my right. Logan, I think.

James grabs onto my hand tighter, and lays his head on the bed. I can feel him start to shake with sobs. I try to move to comfort him, but can't, probably from the stupid medicine.

"I had the perfect night planned, too. We were going to a nice restaurant for dinner, then I was going to take her to the beach and give her the necklace I bought." He pauses and takes in a deep breath, shuddering from his sobs. "And I never got to tell her I love her."

My heart starts beating faster at those words, and I vaguely note in the back of my head that the machine started beeping faster. I slowly open my eyes and look down at James head resting on the bed. "You just did."

His head jolts up quickly to look at me. A smile slowly forms on his tear-stained face when he realizes that I'm really awake. "Lauren, you're ok," he whispers. He leans over and gently hugs me.

I wrap my arms around him carefully. I bury my face into his shoulder. "I love you too, James," I whisper into his ear.

He pulls away with a huge smile on his face. He leans back down and kisses me lightly.

Carlos clears his throat, and James pulls away blushing slightly. I look over and see the guys. Kendall is sitting in a chair next to me; he must have been the one running his hand through my hair comfortingly. Carlos is standing right behind him, smiling at me being awake. And Logan is standing next to one of the machines, probably having been looking at it. They all look really happy that I'm conscious.

I look back at James. "So what exactly happened?"

He looks down frowning, and I can see his eyes starting to water. He rubs circles with his thumbs on my hand. He takes a deep breath before looking up at me. "Well, we started going through that light. A drunk driver started to run it. I tried to swerve the car out of the way, but he still hit us. I only had to get a few stitches from glass flying," he says and moves his hair out of the way to show the stitches on his forehead. "You, on the other hand, got hurt a lot more."

"How bad?" I ask, and can tell by his expression that it's not good.

James opens his mouth to start talking, but quickly closes it, not being able to form the words. Kendall notices, and starts to explain so James didn't have to. "Well, your leg is fractured, and your forearm is broken in one spot."

I lift up my arm and look at the cast. So that was what I couldn't tell before was there. I put my arm back on the bed and turn towards Kendall. "And?" I ask, knowing he wasn't saying everything.

His face scrunches like he doesn't want to tell me, but I give him a look and he continues. "Um, you had to get stitches in several places on your face, you probably have a concussion, and you had bleeding in your abdomen."

"Oh," I say and lean back against the bed. I guess it was a lot worse than I thought it was.

"Lauren, I'm so sorry," James says. I look at him and see tears starting to fall down his face again. "This is all my fault."

I wipe the tears from his face and hold my hands to make sure he's looking at me. "James, this is in no way your fault. So stop blaming yourself. Ok?" He nods his head and I smile at him.

Suddenly, I hear someone shouting in the hallway. "Where is she? Where's my niece?" I feel the floor shaking as someone runs closer. There's only one person who it could be.

Gustavo bursts open the door and quickly scans the room. His eyes land on me and widen in fear at the site of me. "Lauren, are you ok?" He asks as he walks over, pushing Carlos out of the way. Kelly walks in right behind him.

"Yeah, I'm ok," I say and smile at him.

"Ok good. I don't need one of my dogs getting seriously hurt," he responds. He tries acting nonchalant about the situation, but I can tell he was really worried about me.

"Don't worry, I'm going to be fine, uncle." I smile at him and try placing my hand on his shoulder, but it's hard to with the cast.

A doctor walks in, and looks relieved when he sees me. "Good, you're awake, Miss Rocque. That was quite an accident you got in there. But the bleeding in your abdomen stopped, and we have everything else taken care off. I'm just going to check things over, and if everything is good, you should be able to leave the hospital tonight."

He runs some tests to make sure I have full brain function. Then he looks over my cuts on my face. "Alright, everything looks good. The stitches will be able to come out in about a week and a half. The casts won't be able to come off for at least six weeks. But I think you're fine to leave later. You'll have to get crutches so you can walk around, and I'll write the prescription for your painkillers. You can get both at the front desk on your way out." He smiles at me before walking out of the room.

I sit up and swing my feet over the side of the bed. Everyone starts moving towards me like they're afraid I'm going to fall. "Guys, relax. I just want to get the hell out of here."

James chuckles as he walks around the bed to the side I'm on. "Well, let's get you out of here, then," he says and holds his hands out for me. I grab them and he helps me stand up. He waits to let go before he knows I won't fall.

"Um, guys? I can't exactly leave in a hospital gown," I say as I look down at the sheer cloth covering me.

"Don't worry, I already thought ahead," Kelly says and hands me a pile of clothes.

"Thanks Kelly, you're the best," I smile at her then slowly start walking over to the bathroom in the room. I pull the gown behind me, making sure my butt wasn't exposed.

I slowly change into the clothes, grimacing in pain every time I moved my stomach. I finally get the sweatpants and t-shirt on, and walk back out to see everyone waiting. James walks up to me and wraps his arm around my waist carefully. I lean against him as we start walking out of the room. Kelly and Logan walk past us, probably to go get the cars out front.

We finally get to the waiting room, and we go to the front desk to get my crutches and prescription. I start using them, feeling really awkward. I glance at a T.V. in the corner and stop when I see a picture of myself and James. I read the caption on the screen, and realize they're talking about James and I being in a car accident.

I sigh as I continue walking to the door where everyone is waiting. James looks at me confused. "There's going to be paparazzi everywhere out there. People know that we were in an accident."

"Well, we will just have to get you in the car quickly. Logan should have it out front."

I nod and take a deep breath before continuing outside. Carlos holds open the door for me and smiles apologetically. As soon as I get outside, tons of cameras start flashing. The guys all walk around me, trying to block me. Gustavo starts yelling at some of them to get out of the way, which they do; everyone knows how angry he can get.

I see Logan's van sitting there waiting, and sigh in relief. I walk over quickly, and James helps me in carefully before getting in himself. The rest of the guys get in and as soon as the door closes Logan starts driving away. I see Gustavo getting in a limo as we leave the hospital.

I rest my head on James' shoulder and he wraps an arm around me carefully, trying not to hurt me. "I'm going to take care of you," he says quietly so only I can hear him. "I'm not going to let anything hurt you."

I smile up at him. "I know you will. And that's all I need, knowing you'll be there for me."

**So what do you think of the story? I had to make something dramatic happen lol. And sorry if the romance is bad, I'm not that good at writing it. But I hope you like the story so far! :D**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15:**

I smile as I wake up from my dream of lying on the warm sand on the beach. I roll onto my side and reach out my hand for the person sleeping next to me. I frown when my hand encounters empty fabric.

I open my eyes and look around confused. James promised he would stay with me all the time, until Rachel got home in a few days. I sit up and look around the room. "James?" I call out hesitantly.

I don't get a response and sigh as I swing my legs over the side of the bed. I lightly stand up, and hold on to the bed to keep myself steady. I start to walk over to the door, almost losing my balance several times from the cast. But I refuse to use the crutches.

I open the bedroom door as I start to smell food cooking. I smile and sigh in contentment as I smell bacon cooking. I walk towards the kitchen, and here James talking to someone. "…Yeah I'll let her know. Are you sure you can't get back sooner?"

He looks up and smiles when he sees me. He holds up his hand to tell me one minute. "Alright, I'll see you soon."

He sets his phone down on the counter and walks over to me quickly. "Hey, you're up. Sorry I wasn't there, but I figured I would make you breakfast."

I wrap my arms around him and hold on tightly as I rest my head on his chest. "It's ok. Bacon makes everything better."

James pulls back to look at me with a goofy smile. "Really? Bacon makes it better?"

"Oh yeah," I reply jokingly and start walking to the counter with him. "Didn't you know that the way to my heart is with bacon?"

I sit down on a stool and he goes back to cooking breakfast, laughing. "Ok mental note to self: cook Lauren bacon to make her happy."

I smile at him and laugh a bit. I quickly grab a piece of bacon from the plate and take a bite before he can say anything. "So who were you talking to?"

"Rachel. Someone needed to tell her everything that happened." He sets the food onto two plates and looks up at me. "She tried to see if they would let her come home early, but they're making her stay the last two days. She's really worried about you."

I sigh and look down at the cast on my arm. "I figured she would be."

James picks up the plates and walks over to the table and sets them down. He comes back over to me and wraps his arms around my waist. "Hey, enough worrying about that. Let's go eat this delicious breakfast that I made."

I slide off the stool and he helps me walk over to the table. "I could have walked over myself, you know," I say as I stop halfway there.

He steps back from me and shoots me a looking saying 'really?' "Well if you're so determined, go right ahead," he says and motions his arms to the table.

"I will," I say determinedly. I slowly start walking, trying so hard not to fall. And I almost make it there before falling.

I brace myself for the impact with the floor and scrunch my eyes closed. But it never happens. Instead, I'm wrapped in James' arms. I open my eyes and look up at him. "Thanks," I whisper.

He nods and sets me up on my feet, but doesn't let go. "Please be more careful. I can't stand to see you get hurt."

I nod and look down at the floor, not wanting to see his hurt expression. His hand gently goes under my chin, and he turns my head to look at him. He leans in slowly, and then presses his lips gently to mine. I put my good arm around his neck slowly, not wanting this sweet moment to end. His arms wrap tighter around my waist, pulling me closer to him. I gasp slightly in pain and pull away, his grip loosing right away.

"What's wrong, Lauren?" He asks concerned. He leads me over to the table quickly and I sit down gingerly.

"You were just holding me a bit too tightly. My ribs and stomach still really hurt."

James looks down and sits in his seat. I can see his eyes starting to glisten with tears. "James, look at me." He listens to me and picks up his head. "Don't be mad at yourself. It's not your fault. You just forgot for a minute that I was bruised. But I'll be fine in a few days."

He picks up his fork and starts absentmindedly poking at his omelet. "Yeah, I guess," he says quietly.

"Cheer up, ok? Because we're going to spend the whole day together, just lying around doing absolutely nothing." He smiles a bit at this, and I pick up my fork and start eating. I moan as the flavor of the omelet explodes across my taste buds. "Oh my god, James. Why have you never told me that you make such good omelets? I would have had you make me breakfast every day."

He laughs as he starts to eat his. "I do make a mean omelet, don't I?" I nod as I continue to quickly eat it.

I finish after a few minutes, and sit back content. I rub my stomach. "Such a happy belly now."

He smiles at me. "So what are we going to do now?"

"Well I'm going to go take a shower." I stand up and stretch my arms above my head. "I smell like hospital, and I can't stand it."

James looks at me concerned. "Do you need help at all?"

I blush and look away. "No, I should be fine."

He looks at me like he knows I'm not admitting to needing help. "Alright. Oh and I talked to the doctor this morning, and he said the casts are waterproof. So just yell if you need me," he finally says.

"Will do," I say and smile at him before starting to walk to my room. I go to the bathroom and turn the water on, letting it run for a minute to get warm. I carefully take my clothes off, trying not to cause any pain.

I look in the mirror and gasp in shock when I see how bad my injuries are. The right side of my stomach is all a purplish color with bruises. On my face, I have stitches on my cheek and above my right eyebrow. I look away, disgusted in the bruised state of my body. I carefully step into the shower with my good foot, and then swing my right leg in. I slip in the running water, and fall to the floor with a loud crash.

"Oww," I say as I sit on the floor of the shower. Only I would slip when getting into the shower.

The door bursts open and James runs in. "Lauren, are you ok?"

I blush and cross my arms over my chest, and cross my legs. "Um, yeah. I just slipped and fell."

He reaches down and holds out his hands for me. The looks on his face shows purely concern. I grab his hands and he gingerly pulls me up. "Are you sure you don't need my help?"

I sigh and look at him. He isn't embarrassed at all; he just wants to help me. "Fine, you can help."

I cross my arms over my chest and stand there. He starts taking off his shirt and I look at him really confused. "What are you doing, James?"

"You can't expect me to go in the shower in my clothes, can you?" He chuckles lightly before starting to slip his pants off.

I turn away and stare at the shower wall, knowing I'm probably blushing really badly. I feel his arms wrap around me from behind, and I turn around to face him. I rest my head on his chest and wrap my arms around him. I forget about being in the shower with him, and just enjoy being in his embrace. I feel safe in his arms under the warm water.

He gently starts rubbing shampoo in my hair, never completely letting go of me. I sigh against his chest, happy to be with him. "James, thanks for doing this."

He pauses to look at me. I glance up at his face and he's smiling down at me. "You're welcome. It's my job to protect you, make sure you're safe and sound. I love you."

I move my arms to around his neck and pull him down. When his lips are an inch from mine, I whisper, "I love you too."

He closes the short distance and kisses me. He slowly walks me back until I'm leaning against the wall of the shower. One hand runs through my wet hair, the other runs up and down my side. My hands get tangled up in his hair, trying to pull him as close to me as possible.

James starts trailing kisses down my jaw and my neck. I moan as he lightly bites a spot. "James."

"Hmm," he mumbles against my skin.

I pull his face up to mine. "Let's just forget about the shower."

"Sounds good," he says and reaches over to turn the water off. I step out and grab a towel for myself, and throw another to James. I wrap it around me and walk out of the bathroom, with James right behind me.

I go over to my closet and he sits on my bed. I get out my pajamas, which are really James' shirt and shorts, and quickly put them on. I look back over at James and he's sitting with no shirt on, drying his hair.

I walk up to him and sit next to him. "So I've decided that there's a new law."

"And what's that?" he asks with a smile.

"You are not allowed to wear shirts."

He laughs and smiles at me. "I am perfectly fine with that." He wraps his arms around my waist and lies back on the bed, pulling me with him so I'm lying on his chest. "So what do you want to do today?"

"Can we just be lazy and watch movies all day?"

He laughs and sits up. "Alright, movies it is." He stands up and picks me up, carrying me out of my room.

I laugh at him. "James what are you doing?"

"I'm not going to make you walk," he says and stops in front of the couch. He lightly tosses me down and I laugh at his silliness.

James walks over to the T.V. and after a few minutes he picks out a movie and starts playing it. He walks back to the couch and lays down next to me, wrapping his arms around me. I cuddle up next to him, watching the tv to see what movie he picked. When it gets to the main menu I protest a bit. "Really? You had to pick _The Notebook_? Are you trying to make me cry?"

"No, I'm not," he says and kisses my neck lightly. "I just thought we could watch a romantic movie together."

"Ok then. But you've been warned, I'm going to be crying a lot."

"Well I'll be here to comfort you," he says as he starts the movie.

We lay there and watch the movie for a while. I start crying when it gets to the rain scene. I start silently mouth along the word. When they finally kiss, I'm bawling my eyes out.

A knock on the door interrupts the emotional moment in the movie. "Who the heck is that?"

I look up at James and he's just as confused. "I don't know. But I'll go get it so you don't have to get up."

"Ok," I say as he stands up, turning back to the movie. I pause it and turn around to see who's at the door.

James opens the door and Bitters is standing there with a large pile of letters. "These have been dropped off all day for Lauren, and interrupting me." He glares over at me and tosses the envelopes to James before walking away.

James closes the door and starts walking back, looking at the letters. "Who could these all be from?"

"I don't know, let's open them."

He sits back down on the couch and puts the pile of letters between us. I grab the first one and open it. I start tearing up again when I read the letter hoping I'm ok. I look up at James and realize the letter he read is the same as mine. "They're get well cards. Who's yours from? Mine is from Selena Gomez."

"Really? This is from Lady Gaga."

I snatch the letter out of his hand to look at it. "Lady Gaga wrote me a letter? I didn't even know that she knows who I am!"

He smiles at me a grabs another letter. "Let's see who the rest of these are from."

We sit there for a while opening the letters. By the time we're done, I have letters from many celebrities, and a lot from fans. "I can't believe all these people cared enough to write to me."

"Of course they do," James says with a smile. "You're becoming one of Hollywood's biggest upcoming stars; everyone knows who you are."

I shove him playfully. "I don't think I'm that famous yet."

He laughs and pulls me in for a tight hug. I wrap my arms around him and smile in content.

But of course, my phone has to ruin the perfect moment. I groan when I hear the Jaws theme playing. There's only one person who could be calling. "And now someone who doesn't care," I say angrily as I pull away to get out my phone.

He chuckles at the ringtone. "Who is that ringtone for?"

"My mother."

His smile fades right away. I've told him all about my issues with my parents. "Oh. Well she's probably making sure you're all right."

"Yeah, right. She's probably calling to make sure I keep up a good image or something stupid like that." I glare at the phone screen, my thumb hovering over the reject button. "I'm not going to talk to her."

I go to press reject but James grabs the phone. "Lauren, you should talk to her. She might actually be worried."

I can't fight the look he gives me, so I hold my hand out for the phone. "Fine. But if she makes me angry, which will surely happen, I'm blaming you."

He gives me back the phone and I answer it. "Hello?" I say, void of emotions.

"Lauren, honey, are you alright?" she asks, seemingly concerned.

"Oh so now you've decided to care."

"You know I care about you. Your father and I are just very busy."

"You could easily make time to talk to me," I say venomously as I hop of the couch. I start pacing around the apartment.

"I didn't call to have this same discussion with you," she replies annoyed. "I called to find out what happened last night."

"I got in a car accident," I answer nonchalantly. If she's not going to care about me, I'm not going to show any emotions to her. I see James cringe when I mention the accident, and I frown at him.

"Are you alright?" she asks with concern.

"Yes. I've been better though," I say sarcastically. No emotion she ever shows to me is real. There's a reason why she's the best actress in Hollywood; she can make anyone believe her. Well, expect for me.

"What exactly happened? Were you driving? Did someone hit you?" She pauses briefly. "You didn't wreck your Porsche, did you?"

"Glad to know you care more about a stupid car than your daughter." I sigh as I plop back down on the couch. "And I wasn't driving, James was. And a drunk driver ran a red light and hit us."

"Who exactly is this boy?"

"He's my boyfriend."

"How long have you even known him? And how do you know that he isn't just using you for fame?"

"Mom, he's not like that!" I yell, starting to get really mad at her.

"Well how do you know for sure?" she asks exasperated.

"Because I love him! I think I can tell what a person who I love is like!" I groan in frustration; every conversation ends up like this.

"Don't you raise your voice at me," she says back, her own voice getting louder.

"I will if I want. You never care about me! You didn't even know I had a boyfriend until a minute ago, yet we've been dating for a month! Shows how much you care about me."

"I do care about you," she says quietly.

"Yeah well you have a really bad way of showing it," I reply harshly. I pull the phone away from my ear and end the call.

I throw the phone to the ground and it bounces away. I lie face down on the couch and scream into a pillow. "I hate her so much," I mumble into the pillow angrily.

I feel James place a hand lightly on my back and start rubbing soothingly. "Hey, I'm sorry about that."

I sit up so I can look at him. "Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault she's an unloving bitch who always finds a way to piss me off when she calls."

James reaches around me and pulls me up into a hug. I lean against his shoulder and start crying, letting out my frustration. He runs his hand over my hair repeatedly, and it starts to soothe me.

After a few minutes of crying while in his embrace, I start to calm down. He lies back against the couch, pulling me with him. I lay across his chest, starting to get tired. I listen to his heartbeat, and smile as his chest rises with every breath. I can feel myself starting to drift to sleep.

"Lauren, are you falling asleep again?" James asks lightly.

"Hmm," I mumble back. "Why, do you have a problem with that?"

"No, not at all. You look cute when you're sleeping." His chest rumbles under me as he chuckles slightly.

"Thanks… I think."

I close my eyes and cuddle up closer to him, and his arms wrap around me tighter. He starts to lightly sing Sparks Fly. Bizarrely, I really like him singing it, and his voice quickly puts me to sleep.

**So sorry for not finishing this sooner. I was just having one of those moments when I had no idea where I wanted to go with this chapter. But then this morning as I was lying around before I had to leave for school, I realized what I wanted to do with it **


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16:**

I kick open the door quickly, letting it bang against the wall to get his attention. I strike a pose in the doorway, one hand on my hip, the other behind my head. "What do you think?"

James jumps when he hears the door and turns around where he's sitting on the couch. He smiles when he sees me and looks over the long dress I'm wearing. "Was it necessary to be that loud?" he asks as he gets up from the couch and starts walking over.

"Yes, it was. So what do you think?" I ask again and turn in a circle to give him a full view of the long purple gown I'm wearing.

He reaches me and wraps his arms around my waist. "I think you look absolutely beautiful, like usual."

I place my arms around his neck and lean in close to him. "You don't look too bad yourself," I say, acknowledging the tux he has on.

"I tried," he says as he leans closer. His lips just press against mine before we're interrupted.

"Normally I would think you two were being super adorable, but right now, we're gonna be late if we don't leave right now."

I turn my head to look at Rachel standing in the doorway to her room, one hand on her hip. "Fine, we'll get going."

I take my arms away from James' neck and start walking towards the door. James wraps his arm around my waist, and I put my right arm around him leaning on his shoulder. Rachel walks beside us as we leave the apartment.

"So the guys are downstairs waiting in the lobby," Rachel says when we're in the elevator heading down.

"How do you know?"

She blushes slightly and looks down quickly. "Carlos texted me a couple minutes ago."

"Oh ok," I say as the elevator door opens. I let Rachel walk out first before leaving with James. I watch her go to the guys, and notices she stands right next to Carlos, with a shy smile on her face.

"I totally think Rachel and Carlos like each other," I say and look up James.

He looks at them briefly before turning to me. "Really? You think so?"

I nod as we join the group.

"Lauren, you look so pretty!" Carlos shouts before hugging me.

I laugh at him. "Thanks, Carlos. But I kinda need to breathe."

"Sorry," he says before pulling away. The guys all start laughing at him.

"Are you guys all ready to go?" Kendall asks once their done laughing.

"Yep, let's go!" I shout excitedly and start walking out of the Palmwoods. James and I make our way out to the limo sitting in front, everyone else behind us talking excitedly about the movie we're about to see.

Once we're all in, the limo driver starts heading to the premiere. "I can't believe the movie is finally premiering."

"I know. You've only been talking about it for months now," Kendall says sarcastically.

"That's enough of your sass, Kendall Knight. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even be going to this premiere tonight."

"And thank you for that. Believe me, we're just as excited to see this movie as you are."

We talk for a little bit, waiting to get there. Once we finally pull up, I start to get a bit nervous. I don't want people staring at my cast or the stitches on my face.

"Hey, everything's going to be fine," James whispers to me as Kendall and Logan get out of the limo. "I'll be right next to you the entire time."

I nod and smile at him. I see Carlos get out and then help Rachel. "Alright, let's go do this."

James steps out and holds his hand out for me. I take it and exit the limo. The first thing I notice is all the flashing of cameras. I put a smile on my face as James wraps his arm around my waist. I lean against him, happy to have him supporting me.

We walk along the red carpet, posing for pictures, doing some interviews. I take several pictures with the other people in the cast. We finally get to go in the theater, and I sit next to Jack and everyone else who played Career tributes. James sits on my left, with the guys and Rachel next to him.

The movie starts playing and I'm bouncing in my seat in excitement. I've waited so long to see the finished product for The Hunger Games. I watch it so intensely, almost crying when Katniss volunteers, loving the entire scenes of her in the Capitol. I smile ridiculously when I'm first shown, and James looks over and smiles at me. Later James makes some comment about my interview dress that I don't entirely here.

Then the actual games begin, and it's not stop action. I'm surprised at how amazing they made my death look. "Whoa, I did not see that coming," I hear Carlos say from the other side of James, and I laugh lightly.

I cry when a certain character dies, the whole scene being super emotional. By the time the movie ends, I'm speechless, it was so amazing.

As the lights in the theater come back on, I look over at everyone smiling. "So what did you think?"

They all start talking at once, saying it was amazing, and stuff like that. I look at James who didn't start talking with everyone else. "Well?"

"You were absolutely perfect," he replies smiling, than leans in for a kiss.

Carlos clears his throat and we pull apart. A lot of people are standing up to leave. We start walking out of the theater, and I stop several times to talk to people.

We eventually get out of the theater and into the limo and start heading back to the Palmwoods. I'm smiling the entire way home, leaning my head on James' shoulder.

When the limo pulls up at the Palmwoods, we all get out and James starts leading me away from the elevator. I look at everyone confused, but they just smile at me and say goodnight.

"Where are you taking me, James?" I ask him as we pass the pool.

"Just a little surprise I have planned," he replies while looking over to smile at me, a mischievous look in his eyes.

I sigh and smile at him. "Should I be afraid about this surprise?"

He chuckles as we start walking through the park. "Why would you say that?"

"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe the fact that one time you told me to come over because you had a surprise for me and then you and the guys ambushed me with water balloons?"

He stops and turns around to me, laughing. "Ok you have to admit, it was pretty funny."

"Now, yes it is. Then, not so much."

"Well this surprise is not like that. I promise." He starts walking again, leading the way.

After a minute he stops walking, and I see a picnic set up in the same spot where we had our first date. There are candles around the blanket and rose petals scattered around. "James, this is beautiful," I say shocked.

"You like it?" he asks, putting his arm around my waist and leading me to the blanket.

"I love it," I respond as we sit down. He lays back, pulling me with him. I stare up at the stars for a few minutes. "So I'm curious. Why did you plan this?"

"I wanted to do something special for you after you're first time in a movie. And, I just love planning romantic dates for you," he says and starts laughing lightly.

I smile as I lay on his chest for a while, happily enjoying the moment. But after a while, he sits up, pulling me with me.

I look at him confused as to why he suddenly disrupted the peaceful moment. He starts to reach into his jacket and smiles at me. "I got something for you."

His pulls out a long box and opens it, revealing the silver necklace with a heart pendant on it. "It's beautiful, James."

"You think so?" He asked, and I nod my head, smiling. "Here, let me put it on."

He takes it out of the box and clasps it around my neck. I reach up to look at the engraving on it. "I'll always love you," I read out loud. I look up at James, feeling tears starting to form. "James…" I trail off, not knowing what to say.

"It's true, Lauren. I love you, and I always will." He smiles at me, and I can't help but smile at him.

"I love you too, James." I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him sweetly. And as I pull away, I can't help but smile at how flawless this night has been.

**Sorry if this chapter is kinda boring. I wasn't sure what to do about the premiere of the movie because I didn't want to have any spoilers for those who haven't read the Hunger Games. But I promise the next chapter will have something exciting in it. I hope you all like it! (:**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17:**

I walk into Rocque Records, swinging James' hand in my and smiling up at him. We had just got done having a date at the beach. But now Gustavo wanted to talk to all of us for some reason.

We walk into the room and see everyone is already there. "James, L-dog, you're finally here," my uncle says.

"Sorry, we were at the beach so we had a bit of a drive to get here," James responds as we sit down on the couch next to Carlos.

"It's fine," Kelly quickly says before my uncle can get made. "You're here now, so everything is good."

"So what did you need to tell us?" I ask my uncle.

He walks over to the wall where a white screen is pulled down. He grabs the bottom of it and looks over at us. "Big Time Rush will be having their," he pauses to build anticipation. The guys start leaning forward, wanting to know what they're getting.

Gustavo releases the screen as he shouts, "First world tour!" The wall behind the screen is revealed, showing a map of the world. All over it is the Big Time Rush logo, indicating places where there will be shows.

The guys start cheering, and Carlos gets up and starts dancing. I just stare at it, looking at all of the cities. There had to be at least 30 cities. And they would most likely play more than one show at each. This tour was going to be at least two months long.

And that means several months without the guys here.

Tears start to fall down my face as I try to think of how I'll survive the next couple of months. The guys finally stop cheering and look over at me. Their smiles all fade away when they see me crying.

"Lauren, what's wrong?" James asks concerned.

"You guys are just going to leave me for several months?" I say through sobs.

"Hey, I'm sure you could probably go with us," Carlos says and looks over at Gustavo hopingly. The rest of the guys turn to him and start begging for him to let me go with them.

"Lauren will be going with us," Gustavo says and I start smiling. "But not just tagging along. No, Lauren will be opening for you dogs."

I look over at him and start grinning. "Really?" I ask in disbelief, and he nods his head. "That's awesome!" I jump up from the couch and run over to him. I hug him tightly. "Thank you so much, Uncle Gustavo!"

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome," he says grudgingly. But I know that he is happy. "Now get off."

I go back over to the couch and sit next to James. He wraps his arm around me as Gustavo continues. "Now, the tour starts in four weeks. We have a lot of things to do before then. Dogs, you're going to have to learn new dances for a lot of songs. L-dog, you need to finish your album, do a photo shoot, pick what songs you're going to sing, and learn dances. Your casts come off next week, right?"

I smile at him and nod my head. "Yep."

"Good. Now we have to get to work. Dogs, you just need to get measurements for clothes today. L-dog, we need to record the last song for your album." Gustavo claps his hands and the marketing team runs in. They start to drag the guys away, and Kelly leads me into the recording studio.

"So do you have the song already?" I ask my uncle as he sits down at the controls.

"I have two, actually. It just depends on if you're willing to rap for a song. If not, I have a different song we can use."

I shrug as Kelly hands me the music for both songs. I check out the lyrics for the rap, Super Bass. "This song doesn't seem too bad." I look over the other song, Poker Face.

"It's up to you, whatever song you want to sing."

"Well why don't we record both and see which one turns out better? We could always use both, or keep one for later."

"That's a great idea," he replies, shocked. "Now, get in the booth and let's record these songs!"

~BTR~

I start walking back to the Palmwoods, enjoying the beautiful summer weather. I get my phone out and send a quick text to James. 'Hey, I just got done and I'm heading back. Where are you? (:'

He responds in less than a minute. 'Chilling by the pool. Do you want me to pick you up?'

I smile at his text and look up. I'm almost at the Palmwoods. 'Don't bother, I'll be there in a minute or two.'

'Alright see you then. Love you!'

I smile and put my phone back in my pocket. I get to the Palmwoods in a minute and start heading to the pool. I wave and smile at Bitters, but he just grunts and turns back to his food. Oh well, I tried to be nice to him.

I stand in the doorway to the pool area, and look around for James. He's in his normal chair, but with the new girl who moved in a couple days ago. I freeze when I see them.

He's kissing her.

I start backing up, shaking my head, not believing he would do something like this to me. He told me he loved me.

James backs away from the girl, and looks over towards the lobby. When he sees me standing there, I see him say my name and jump up from his chair.

I turn and run through the lobby, ignoring the people asking if I'm alright. I start running through the parking lot, trying to find my car through the blur of tears.

"Lauren, wait!" I hear James yell as I get to my car.

I fumble around in my purse, trying to find my keys. When I finally get them, I go to open the door, but I'm stopped by James pulling my arm back and spinning me to look at him.

"Let me go, James," I say venomously at him. I ignore the hurt look on his face.

"Lauren, please. It's not what it looked like," he pleads.

"Really? Because it looked to me like you were kissing some random girl," I reply sarcastically. "Now let me get in my car."

"No. If you drive now, you're going to hurt yourself. I can't let you get hurt."

I yank my arm from him and start walking in the opposite direction of the Palmwoods. "Well you're a bit too late for that."

"Please, Lauren, don't do this."

I turn around and glare at him. "You've made your choices, James. Now I'm making mine."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asks as tears start to fall down his face.

His tears make me want to forgive him, but I know I can't. Not after what he just did to me. "You know exactly what it means, James. It means we're over."

I turn away and start walking from the car again. I don't try to hold back my tears; it killed me inside to do this. But there is no way I can be with him after what just happened. And I'm not forgiving him any time soon.

"Please listen to me, Lauren." I hear him start walking towards me, but I keep walking and flip him off over my shoulder.

"Just let her go, man," Carlos says to him. I don't know how he knew what was going on, but I'm not sticking around to find out.

"But I can't," I hear James whisper to him before I'm out of earshot.

I start walking to the one place where I know I can go and have someone who will listen to me. I wipe away tears before they can fall to the ground. I don't know how he could do this to me. I thought he meant it when he said he loved me, especially after all we've been through. I guess it was just a lie.

I should have listened to everyone when they told me not to be with him. That he would just break my heart because he was never one to stay in long relationships. Always just flings.

I walk back into the building that I had just left a little while ago. I press the button for the elevator. As I wait, I lean against the wall, sobs overtaking me.

When the doors open, a woman walks out and stops when she sees me. "Lauren, what's wrong?"

I fall into her arms and start crying on her shoulder. "Kelly, I-I-I'm and idiot," I say through my sobs.

"Shh, it's ok," she says as she pulls me into the elevator. She presses a button on the wall and we start going up. When the doors open, I realize we're on our floor.

She leads me over to the couches and sits me down, then sits next to me. She puts both hands on my shoulders and makes me look at her. "Now, tell me what happened?"

I nod my head and start trying to explain. "Well, I went back to the Palmwoods after leaving here. I went to go meet James by the pool. But when I went to go over there, I saw that he- he was-" I break off as a new wave of tears overwhelms me.

"He what?" Kelly asks gently.

I take a deep breath before finishing. "He was kissing some girl."

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry," she says as she pulls me into a hug. I cry on her shoulder as she tries to calm me. "Lauren, I've known James for two years now. He's made quite a few mistakes over that time. And I know he would never purposely hurt you like that."

"Yeah well he still did," I say against her shirt.

Kelly lets me cry on her shoulder for a while, trying to comfort me. After me sobs finally stop and I just shake with silent tears, she speaks up. "How exactly did you get here, Lauren?"

"I walked over because James wouldn't let me drive my car."

"Well I'll get someone to come pick you up, ok?" she asks with a gentle smile.

I nod my head and she pulls out her phone and starts calling someone as she walks out of the room. I lie down at the couch and stare at the wall. No more tears fall as I've become numb to the pain for now.

Kelly walks back into the room and smiles at me. "Alright, someone is coming to get you now, so let's head downstairs to wait for them."

"It's not James, is it?" I ask suspiciously as I stand up and start walking towards the elevator.

"Of course not. I wouldn't do that to you. But let's just say that this person is totally on your side during this whole situation and thinks James is an idiot."

"Good."

We go down the elevator and wait outside the building. After a minute, a familiar van pulls up and a familiar blond jumps out of the car and quickly walks over. He embraces me in a tight hug. "Don't worry, Lauren, I'm here for you."

Kelly starts to head towards the parking lot after seeing that I have a ride home. "Thanks for coming to get her, Kendall. I didn't want her walking home by herself."

"It's no problem at all," he replies and leads me over to the door. I get in and bring my legs up, hugging them to my chest as Kendall gets in on the driver side. He starts driving the short way back to the Palmwoods.

"You know, we've all been worried about you, since we had no idea where you went," he says and glances over briefly.

"Well where else do you think I would have gone without my car? And you can blame your stupid, two-timing asshole of a friend for me being gone."

He doesn't respond until we get back to the Palmwoods and start walking in. "I completely agree with you about him being an asshole. He never realizes what he has until he messes up and loses it."

"I still hate him right now though," I say as we walk through the lobby. I try to ignore all of the sad looks I get from people. I guess everyone here knew what happened.

Kendall chuckles as we step onto the elevator. "That's perfectly normal in this situation." The doors open on my floor and we walk out. "I hate him too right now for breaking your heart."

He pauses at the door to look at me. "I never would have done something like that," he says quietly, hinting that we could have dated.

"That would have been a smarter decision for me, wouldn't it?" I ask as I open my door and walk in, Kendall right behind me. "Instead I chose the vain idiot."

Kendall shrugs and stands by the door. "You did." Plain and simple. But he's absolutely right.

I sigh and walk to the couch and lie on it face down. "Lauren, I'm gonna go back to my apartment now, if that's alright?"

I lift my face up to look at him pleadingly. "Can you please just stay here until I fall asleep? I don't want to be alone tonight."

Kendall smiles lightly and walks over to the couch. I move over and he lies down next to me. He wraps his arms around me and I rest my head on his shoulder. "Thanks for being here for me, Kendall."

"Of course, Lauren. Now, go to sleep," he says gently and kisses the top of my head.

I listen to him and close my eyes, trying to block out thoughts of James so I can actually sleep and not stay awake sad.

**So please don't hate me for them breaking up. This was the major thing that I said was going to happen at the end of the last chapter. So yeah, no more Lauren and James together.**

**I hope you all like the story (:**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18:**

I sigh as I hear a knock on my door. I get up and walk over slowly, not caring too much about who it might be. I look through the peep hole and don't see anyone, so I open the door. Sitting on the ground is a heart shaped box of chocolates and a note sitting on it.

I pick up the note and read it quickly. _I'm sorry, Lauren_. I crumple it up and throw it away from the door, down the hallway. I pick up the chocolates and look at them. Does that boy really think a box of chocolate will make up for the heart break he put me through yesterday?

I grab a peanut butter chocolate before throwing it back on the floor. I stomp on it and kick it away from my door. I turn back around into my apartment and slam the door behind me. I eat the chocolate I grabbed as I walk to my room. I couldn't let peanut butter chocolate go to waste.

I walk in my room and pick up my guitar from beside my bed. I head back out to the couch in the living room and lie down with my guitar. I sit there strumming randomly, zoning out as I think about everything that happened yesterday. The morning had started out so perfectly, almost like a fairytale. But then it just turned into a nightmare.

I pay attention to what I'm playing on the guitar and stop when I realize I'm playing Sparks Fly. I sigh as I realize this song no longer is special towards James. Not after what he did.

I set my guitar to the side and get out my phone instead. I start going through twitter, quickly scrolling through my timeline, not caring about random tweets from celebrities. I stop though when I see one from James. 'I made a huge mistake…'

Yes, you did, James. I want to tweet him that, but I don't want more unnecessary attention about this whole thing. So I decide to tweet something discreet about this whole situation. 'I guess I'm not a princess, and this ain't a fairytale…'

I let it send and throw my phone onto the couch. I don't feel like responding to fans right now.

I sit and think about what I just tweeted for a while. It's true that James isn't my fairytale prince. He's not going to sweep me off of my feet. Because it's obvious after yesterday that dating him was probably one of the biggest mistakes I've made.

I pick up my guitar again and stare at the wall. He thinks he can just say he's sorry, and that everything will be instantly better. But he's wrong; it will take a lot more for me to even start to forgive him.

I start slowly playing some chords and words for a new song start to form in my mind. "Say you're sorry, that face of an angel comes out just when you need it to. As I pace back and forth all this time, 'cause I honestly believed in you."

The rest of the lyrics come quickly, and I write them down before putting my guitar away and grabbing my car keys. I head out of my apartment and down to the lobby, passing by the people there quickly. I pass by the Jennifers and they give me sympathetic smiles, which I try to return.

I get to my car and leave the parking lot, heading over to Rocque Records. I want to get this song recorded while it's still fresh in my head.

I park and get out of my car. I walk into the building and take a deep breath before heading up the elevator. The guys are here rehearsing right now, so there's a chance I might run into them. Which I really don't want to happen right now.

I make it into the recording studio without any James sightings. But I hear music playing in the dance studio, so I know they must be in there.

My uncle looks up when I open the door and looks at me confused. "What are you doing here, Lauren? I told you that you could have the next couple of days off."

"I know," I reply as I set my guitar case on the couch and get it out. "But I have a new song, and I wanted to record it now while it's still fresh in my head."

"Alright, then why don't you go in the recording booth and I'll get everything set up?"

I nod and walk into the room. I sit on the stool in there, and set the lyrics on the stand. I get my guitar situated and look up at my uncle. "Are you ready?"

He gives me a thumbs up in reply. I take a deep breath and start to play my guitar. I start singing and I have to fight to not let tears fall as I think about what happened yesterday. But by the time I'm almost done with the song, I don't hold them back. I know that this is me saying that things truly are over with James.

"'Cause I'm not your princess, this ain't a fairytale. I'm gonna find someone someday who might actually treat me well. This is a big world that was a small town, there in my rearview mirror disappearing now. And it's too late for you and your white horse, now it's too late for you and your white horse to catch me now."

I finish and stare down at the ground, letting the tears fall. I have to let James go, just like the tears I'm letting go.

After a couple minutes, my uncle clears his throat and I look up at him through the blur of tears. "Lauren, that was a really good song. Why don't you go back to the Palmwoods now?" he says gently. This is probably one of the only moments that I've ever heard him being nice.

I nod and stand up to walk out. I look out past my uncle, and see James standing there, trying to stay hidden. But I can still see the tears falling down his face. He sees me looking at him and his face lights up a bit. I shake my head lightly at him and look away; but not before seeing the crushed look on his face.

I walk out of the booth and when I look over to where James was standing, I see that he's gone. I sigh and leave the room, walking quickly through the hallway to avoid seeing anyone. I let out a sigh of relief when I get outside and make my way to my car.

I start the car and the radio turns on, playing Music Sounds Better With U. I groan in frustration and turn it off immediately when I hear James' voice. I lean my forehead against the steering wheel and try to get my thoughts off of him. But it's hard when every little thing reminds me of him.

I sit up and start driving out of the parking lot. I get back to the Palmwoods in a couple minutes and start making my way through the lobby to go back up to my apartment. I'm stopped by the Jennifers who call my name and wave me over to where they're sitting by the pool.

I go over and sit at the open chair. "What's up?"

"We've been doing some watching of the new girl," blonde Jennifer says and nods her head to her right. I look over and see the girl who was kissing James yesterday sitting with a couple guys and laughing. My hands clench into fists and I turn back to the girls.

"What about her?"

Brunette Jennifer leans in over the table and whispers, "She's a major slut." The others nod their heads in agreement.

"She's been practically throwing herself at anything that has a dick between its legs," curly hair Jennifer adds.

"And we think we need to go teach her a lesson about who runs the Palmwoods here. Not some new slut, but us four," blonde Jennifer says with a smirk.

They all look at me expectantly, waiting for my answer. "I'm in," I say after a minute.

They all stand up and start walking over to the new girl, smoothies in hand. I get up and follow them. When we get to where the girl is sitting, I plaster a fake smile on my face.

"Hi, we noticed you're new here and thought we'd come say hello," blonde Jennifer says sweetly. But only someone who knows her would know how far from sweet she really is at the moment.

"Oh, um, thanks," the new girl replies confused. "Um, I'm Megan."

"I'm Lauren, and their Jennifer," I say as I sit down in the seat next to her, not waiting for an invitation. The Jennifers sit next to me.

"So what did you move out here to do?" Brunette Jennifer asks her.

"I'm getting into acting. I finally convinced my dad to let us move out here."

"Nice," I say without really caring. I didn't come here to make chit-chat, I came here to teach her a lesson. "So have you met anyone?"

"Yeah all the guys here are super nice," she says with a smile.

_That's because you're a slut who probably can't keep her legs shut_. I smile at her instead of calling her out.

"Anyone in particular catch your eye?" the curly hair Jennifer asks, realizing where I'm trying to get with this conversation.

Megan smiles before responding. "Yeah there's this totally hot guy. He's absolutely beautiful. He has a stupid lucky comb, but whatever, I can deal with that. Especially because he's such a good kisser," she says and shrugs.

I grip the edge of the table tightly to the point of my knuckles turning white. How dare she kiss him. It takes a look from blonde Jennifer to release my grip and put a fake smile on. "I'm not sure I know who you're talking about."

"Really? Then you must not have lived here that long yet. I don't know how you don't know him. He's in that stupid boy band Big Time Rush. I think his name was James."

The fact that she hates Big Time Rush, and doesn't even remember his name for sure lights the fuse that is my anger. I backhand her across the face so quickly that she couldn't have stopped me if she tried.

She clutches her face with one hand and stares at me with her mouth open in shock. "What the fuck was that for?" She shouts before pulling her other arm back to punch me.

I stop her hand easily, and twist her arm behind her back. "That was for kissing _my _boyfriend, James; not liking Big Time Rush; and just for being a slut overall." She struggles to try to get out of my grip but I just hold onto her arm tighter. "Yeah, next time you go to punch someone, you might want to make sure they didn't have a couple months of training in combat."

I let go of her and she falls to the ground, glaring up at me. "You see, I actually can get an acting role while keeping my legs shut, so I was in The Hunger Games. Now, you need to learn to stop being such a whore, and not kiss other people's boyfriends."

"Who do you think you are that you can do this?" She asks and tries to hit me again.

I stop her easily and laugh at her. "I'm Lauren Rocque." I pause when I see her shocked face. "Yes, Rocque as in my dad is the top director in Hollywood, my mom is a world famous actress, and my uncle is a famous record producer."

I stand up and look at her. "So if you ever want to get an acting job in this town, I'd watch who you try to get with."

The Jennifers stand up to leave with me, and as I'm turning around, I see out of the corner of my eye them throwing their smoothies on her face. She cries out and I her people around the pool laughing at her.

We go back to the table they had been sitting at, and I can't help but feel a bit bad about what we just did. But that girl did need to be taught a lesson. I pick up my guitar from next to my chairs and turn to the girls. "Hey I'm going to head up to my apartment. Thanks for helping teach that girl a lesson."

"It's no problem, Lauren," curly hair Jennifer says and smiles at me.

"Yeah we'll always look out for you," brunette Jennifer adds.

"Especially when sluts try to steal your boyfriend from you," blonde Jennifer says.

"Wait, you don't think it was his fault?" I ask them confused.

"Not at all. We were down here yesterday when they kissed. She was all over James, and I could tell he was trying to push her away," blonde Jennifer replies, and the other two nod their heads.

"Oh," I just say, not knowing what else to say to them right now. "Well I'll see you girls."

"Bye Lauren!" They say as I start walking back to the lobby.

So James wasn't at fault here, according to the Jennifers. But I don't know what to think right now. He still hurt me, and I can't forgive that yet.

I'm so focused on thinking about this that I don't notice the person standing in front of the elevator until I bump into them. "Oh I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking!" I say quickly.

The person starts laughing and turns around. That's when I see its Carlos. "Of course you weren't paying attention to where you're going."

"Hey, shut up!" I say and jokingly hit him on the arm.

He laughs and walks into the elevator when the doors open. I step in right behind him. "So are you guys done rehearsing for the day?"

"Yeah we are. But what have you been up to? I heard you were at Rocque Records with a new song."

"Oh, yeah, I was," I say and look down at the floor sadly.

The doors open on his floor, and he holds it open. "Hey, everything is going to be fine. Things will find a way to work out."

"I sure hope so," I say as he steps out and the doors start closing.

"I'm here for you if you need me!" He shouts as the doors close.

I sigh and lean against the walls for the short ride up to my floor. Now that I'm by myself again, it's hard to fight off the sadness over breaking up with James.

The doors open and I step out only to stop right away. Standing there is James. I go to walk around him and he does nothing to stop me. "Please just listen to me, Lauren."

I stop at hearing how upset his voice is and turn around to face him. "No, James, you listen to me. Do you know how much it hurt to see you kissing some random girl? Especially after how you've told me that you'll always love me?"

His face drops and his eyes start to become glossy with tears. "It wasn't my fault," he says quietly. "Please forgive me."

"It's going to take a lot more than a simple apology for me to forgive you. It's going to take something special." I turn away from him and walk the short distance to my apartment and quickly walk in.

As I close the door, I lean against it and slide down to the ground. I sit there and put my face in my hands as tears come once again.

**So they you go, the next chapter within a day (: I'm on break for the week, so I've had time to write this. So what do you think about Lauren confronting the new girl?**

**And I need your opinion on something: do you think Lauren should get back together with James soon or should she start to date Kendall? Please let me know your opinion on that! **


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19:**

A sharp knock pierces through the apartment, and I groan as I move my face out of the pillows on the couch.

"Go away," I feebly shout, not wanting to talk to anyone right now.

The knocking stops and I sigh in relief. Thank god the person left. I turn back to face the couch when my phone buzzes on the floor next to me. I glance over and see a text from Carlos.

I sigh and reach over to grab it. "What do you want now, Carlos?" I mumble to myself as I open the text.

'It's me, would you open the door, please?'

'Just come in, it's open,' I quickly text him back before letting my phone drop back to the floor.

The door opens a minute later and I hear Carlos walk over to the couch. "What do you want?"

He kneels down on the floor so he's at my eye level. "I'm not going to let you mope around in your apartment anymore. So we are going down to the pool."

I roll over to face the side of the couch. "But I don't want to."

He sighs in frustration. "Lauren, you can't stay locked up in here forever."

"Yeah I can," I respond annoyed.

Carlos doesn't respond. Instead he picks me up suddenly and throws me over his shoulder.

"Carlos, put me down!" I yell at him while hitting his back.

"Nope," he replies, popping the "p" as he walks out of my apartment. He starts making his way to the elevator. "You decided to be stubborn about coming with me to the pool. So now you have to deal with me carrying you down."

I sigh as the elevator doors close and it starts moving down. Defeated, I lie across his shoulder and don't move. "You suck."

Carlos laughs at me as the doors open at the lobby and he walks out. "I love you too, Lauren," he jokingly says as he walks to the pool. People stare at Carlos and I, probably wondering why in the world he was carrying me like that.

Carlos eventually sits me down at a table by the pool. Lucy and Camille are both already sitting there.

"Nice to actually see you, Lauren," Lucy says.

"Yeah, we were starting to think you were going to stay in your room for good," Camille adds.

"I would have, but someone had to drag me here," I say and glare over at Carlos.

Carlos doesn't notice me glaring at him because he's too busy looking at the other side of the pool. "Are those two seriously arguing again?"

I glance over at where he's looking and see Kendall and Logan arguing. "Logan, just shut up! It's all James' fault!"

"No it wasn't!" Logan yells back before hitting Kendall.

The two start fighting, and I sigh as I turn back to everyone at the table. "What are they arguing about now?"

"Kendall thinks it's all James' fault that you two broke up," Lucy says.

"And Logan thinks it wasn't his fault," Camille adds. "They've fighting over this since you guys broke up."

"Oh," I say and look down at the ground, feeling upset again since they mentioned James.

I hear them yell and look up just in time to see them fall into the pool. Standing in their spot is Katie, a smirk on her face. The guys pop up in the water and give her a look saying _what the heck?_ She just shrugs her shoulders and starts walking out of the pool area.

I laugh at the guys and give Katie a fist bump when she passes me. I turn around back towards the table and my smile instantly turns to a frown when I see the new person sitting with us. James is sitting there, looking at me hopefully. His hair is a complete mess, unlike it's normal perfectly kept way.

I ignore the look on his face and turn to Lucy and Camille. "So Camille, have you gotten any new acting roles lately?"

She looks between James and I before responding. "Uh, yeah. I got a part in a new movie with Johnny Depp…" she fades off as she looks uncomfortably at James who has moved next to me now.

"Lauren, would you please talk-"

"What about you, Lucy? How's your music going?" I ask, interrupting James from talking to me.

Lucy looks over at Camille before responding. "Well I'm working on a new album-"

"That's great. You know, I was thinking about writing a new song. I think a good title would be 'I'm so mad at the person sitting next to me who broke my heart'."

Carlos mutters, "Awkward."

I look over at him, past James. "I'm going to go back up to my room now, Carlos. I don't want to stay down here any longer." I stand up and look expectantly at him. "Are you coming with me?"

He glances over at James sympathetically before standing up. "Yeah I guess."

I loop my arm through his and start walking towards the lobby. I hear a chair pushed across the concrete and I know that James got up to follow us. "Lauren, please, just listen to me."

I sigh and keep walking through the lobby. Carlos glances over his shoulder at James, but I make him keep walking. People stare at us, but I ignore them as we get to the elevator where Tyler was just getting out. I walk in and push the button for my floor, watching the doors close as James stands there, looking at me desperately.

"Ok, that was rude," Carlos says when the elevator starts moving up.

"What, me ignoring him?"

"Yes!"

I sigh and look at him. "Well what do you expect me to do, Carlos? He broke my heart. Do you honestly expect me to just forgive him right away?"

He frowns, knowing I'm right. "I just think you should try talking to him," he says as the doors open at my floor.

"Not gonna happen," I say as I walk out, heading the short distance towards my apartment. I walk in and go over to the couch, lying down. "Ugh, I'm not happy with you right now."

"Why not?" Carlos asks confused as he sits down next to me.

"Because you made me go down to the pool. If I didn't, I wouldn't have seen you-know-who."

"You saw Voldemort down by the pool?" He asks sarcastic.

I laugh and throw a pillow at him. "You know what I meant."

"I know. How about to make it up to you, we have an all night Harry Potter movie marathon?" He asks and smiles at me.

"All eight movies?" I ask and he nods his head excited.

"I'll even go to the store and buy you your favorite candy!"

I laugh and smile at him. "Sounds like a plan. And you don't need to go to the store, I already have a large stash of candy here."

"Alright!" Carlos shouts and jumps up off of the couch and runs to the TV to get the movies ready.

I walk over to the kitchen and put a bag of popcorn in the microwave. Then I go to the cabinet and grab the candy from there. Once the popcorn is done, I put it in a big bowl and walk back over to the couch, sitting next to Carlos.

I curl up next to him as he starts the movie. "Thanks for doing this, Carlos. I really appreciate you trying to cheer me up."

He looks down at me and smiles. "Hey, that's what friends are for. To cheer you up when other friends make a huge mistake."

I frown at this and he realizes what he said. "Hey don't be sad, we're going to have a fun night watching Harry Potter, ok? And you're not going to think about him, I forbid it."

I laugh and turn back to the TV. "Ok, Carlos, whatever you say."

**So first, sorry about being MIA with this! After I wrote the last two chapters, I had to do a huge physics project over the rest of my break. Then I started working on my best friend's birthday gift, which is 17 different stories involving her and BTR. So I've been working on that. And then I just didn't feel like writing this part. Oh another reason why is because I was stressing about getting tickets for Big Time Summer Tour. But my mom got my friend (same one I'm making the gift for) VIP on Tuesday! :D I'm going to get to meet BTR! I am just beyond excited.**

**I was going to make this part longer, but then I realized it would be really long. And I want to get something posted for you. So the next part will be a bit longer. And I promise things will get better between Lauren and James! Probably in the next chapter or two! :D**

**Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who's reviewed. I appreciate it so much! **


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20:**

I wake up the next morning to a text on my phone. I open it, squinting to see the screen while still being half asleep. 'Hey it's Kelly. Can you come to the studio? Your uncle has a new song for you.'

I sigh and quickly tell her I'll leave in a few minutes. As I set my phone back down, I look over at the couch next to me. Instead of finding Carlos still there, a note is in his place.

I pick it up confused and read it over. _I had to go to the studio early. I didn't want to wake you up. I'll see you later :)._

I smile and set the note back down on the couch before standing up and stretching. Walking into my bedroom, I glance at the clock and realized I slept in until after noon. I guess that's what happens when you stay up late watching movies.

I quickly change out of my pajamas and throw on a t-shirt and jeans. Grabbing my purse and keys, I leave my apartment and go down to the lobby. Making my way through, I don't see the guys at all, meaning they're probably still at the studio. And that means I'll probably have to see James.

I sigh as I walk outside and get in the car. I don't think it was his fault entirely, but I'm still mad at him for doing that. As I start driving to Rocque Records, I contemplate forgiving him. If I do, he's going to have to do something really special.

I park my car outside the studio and head up. When I get to the floor, I can here two people yelling. As I round the corner, I realize who it is right before I see them.

"Where were you last night?" James asks harshly.

"I was with Lauren," Carlos responds coolly.

"Why?" James asks, angry and slightly hurt.

I stand there watching as Carlo huffs and runs his hand through his hair. "I was trying to make her feel better! If you haven't noticed, she's been super upset!"

James looks down at the ground and frowns. "Of course I know that," he replies quietly.

"Well you haven't done much about it! So sorry that last night I was trying to make my best friend feel better because of a stupid mistake that you made!" Carlos responds angrily to him, poking James in the chest. He sighs in frustration before turning around and heading towards the exit.

James looks up at him leaving and sees me standing there. He starts walking over to me quickly as I try to make my way into the recording studio while not making eye contact with him. "Lauren, please just let me explain."

He reaches out and places a hand on my shoulder but I quickly knock it off. I turn and glare at him. "No, James. Now, if you don't mind, I have to go record a new song."

I walk towards the room and James just stands there. My uncle walks out right before I walk in. "What are you still doing here?" he yells at James.

"I-I was, um, just leaving," he says awkwardly and starts to leave. But before turning around, he gives me a look, begging for me to talk to him.

I turn away from him and look away sadly. "So you wanted me to record a new song?"

"Yes, come with me," Gustavo says before walking into the recording studio. I follow him in and see Kelly standing there. She hands me the music and I look over it. "So once again, I was able to write a song that was inspired by your life."

I sigh and smile at him. "Why do you keep doing that?"

He shrugs before lightly pushing me towards the recording booth. "Because your life is very inspiring for songs. Now go sing the song!"

I go over to the microphone and put the headphones on. He starts the music and I begin singing the song. "You can't touch me now, there's no feelings left. If you think I'm coming back, don't hold your breath. What you did to me, boy I can't forget. If you think I'm coming back, don't hold your breath."

I look out at my uncle and give him a confused look as I start the first verse, wondering if he really did write a song about how I should move on from James. "I was under your spell for such a long time, couldn't break the chains. You played with my heart, tore me apart with all your lies and games. It took all the strength I had but I crawled up on my feet again. Now you're trying to lure me back, don't you know those days are gone my friend. I loved you so much that I thought someday that you could change. But all you brought me was a heart full of pain"

When I get to the chorus again, I'm starting to get mad at my uncle for making it seem like James was absolutely horrible to me. The second verse just reminds me of how much my uncle dislikes James. "I was worried about you but you never cared about me none. You took my money and I know you, you could kill someone. I gave you everything but nothing was ever enough. You were always jealous over such crazy stuff."

By the time I get to the bridge, I give my uncle a look saying _Really?_ I shake my head at the song while singing the bridge. "Move on, don't look back. I jumped off the train, running off the tracks. Love is gone, face the facts. A bad movie ends and the screen fades to black. What you did to me boy I can't forget. If you think I'm coming back."

I sing through the chorus two more times before the song ends. When finished, I look at my uncle and just say, "Really?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Did you really have to make it seem like James is a horrible guy?"

"Um, yeah, because he is." I glare at him and he pauses. "Just sing the song again!"

~BTR~

I get back to the Palmwoods after finishing the song. I peer into the lobby, knowing James is probably going to try to talk to me when I get back. Not seeing him at all, I walk in, starting to make my way quickly over to the elevator.

I make it to the front desk before I hear someone start playing guitar. I close my eyes and sigh when I hear James start singing. "You know you love me. I know you care. Just shout whenever, and I'll be there."

I turn towards the pool area where he's standing playing the guitar, and he smiles at me. "You are my love, you are my heart. And we will never ever ever be apart."

I walk towards the elevator trying to ignore him as he continues singing and follows me. "Are we an item? Girl quit playing. 'We're just friends?' What are you sayin'?"

I push through the people by the elevator and get on, James following me on. "Said 'There's another' and looked right in my eyes."

Sighing I walk past him out of the elevator to the stairwell. I open the door and start going up the stairs right away, trying to get away from him.

"My first love broke my heart for the first time," James sings as he follows me into the stairwell. "And I was like, baby, baby, baby, oh. Like baby, baby, baby, no. Like baby, baby, baby oh. I thought you'd always be mine, mine."

I'm about to start going up the second flight of stairs when he runs in front of me and starts walking backwards up the stairs. He stares at me while continuing the song. "Oh for you, I would have done whatever. And I just can't believe we ain't together." I try to go around him but he just picks up his pace so I can't pass him. "And I want to play it cool, but I'm losing you. I'll buy you anything; I'll buy you any ring." He pauses playing the guitar so he can point at his left hand.

I laugh lightly at him as I quickly go around him. James starts walking behind me again. "And I'm in pieces, baby fix me. And just shake me 'til you wake me from this bad dream. I'm going down, down, down, down. And I just can't believe my first love won't be around."

I get to the third set of stairs as he starts to sing the chorus again. I start running up them, hoping to get away from James. "And I'm like baby, baby, baby, oh. Like baby, baby, baby, no. Like baby, baby, baby, oh. Thought you'd always be mine, mine."

I throw open the door to my floor, prepared to run the short distance to my door. But I'm stopped by Logan standing there, blocking me. He starts rapping and I can't help but laugh. "When I was thirteen, I had my first love. There was nobody who compared to my baby and nobody came between us or could ever come above. She had me going crazy, oh I was starstuck. She woke me up daily, don't need no Starbucks."

He grabs my hand and spins me around in a circle and I laugh and smile at him. "She made my heart pound. I skip a beat when I see her on the street and at school on the playground. But I really want to see her on the weekend. She know she got me dazin', 'cause she was so amazin'. And now my heart is breaking, but I just keep on sayin'."

James takes over singing again, smiling at me as he walks backwards towards my apartment, me following him. "Baby, baby, baby, oh. Like baby, baby, baby, no. Like baby, baby, baby, oh. I thought you'd always be mine, mine."

James gets to my door and leans against it as he finishes the song. "I'm all gone. Now I'm all gone. Now I'm all gone, gone, gone, I'm gone."

As he hits the final chord, he smiles at me. I can't help but smile a bit at him; him singing the song was pretty funny. I open my mouth to start talking but he interrupts me.

"Before you say anything, please just listen to me. I'm so sorry about what happened. I didn't mean for that to happen. I would never hurt you; you mean so much to me. So please forgive me."

I look up at him, and know from the sad look on the face that he's telling the truth. But I'm not ready to entirely forgive him. "So you thought singing a Justin Bieber song would make me forgive you?"

He shrugs and looks down at the ground embarrassedly. "Well, I figured he has millions of girls that love him when he sings this song. So I thought maybe if I sung it, I could get one girl to love me again."

I smile at him and shake my head lightly. "You're ridiculous, you know that?" I say jokingly. "But I do believe you."

He looks up at me, face full of hope. "So you forgive me?"

"Not quite yet." I pause as he looks at me confused. "I appreciate the effort you put into the song, especially learning how to play guitar for it. But for me to completely forgive you, you're going to have to do something really special."

"Like what?" he asks, looking much happier than he has in days.

"I don't know. Just something to prove that you love me and you'll never do something stupid like that again."

"Alright, I'm on it," James replies excitedly. "Just wait, I'm going to do something amazing for you!" He takes off running down the hallway towards the elevator and I laugh at his eagerness before walking into my apartment.

I smile before going over to the couch, feeling better than I have in days, knowing that everything could possibly be fixed between James and I.

**Ok so I really love how this chapter turned out! I hope you think so too. Funny thing, I had planned to have the song Don't Hold Your Breath in the story before that interview where Carlos and Kendall talked about it. After that, I definitely had to include it. And I've had the whole idea of James singing Baby for a while.**

**So everything is almost completely better with Lauren and James! Yay! –cue happy dance- lol. I have something really cute planned for the next chapter. So let me know what you think of this! And thank you for the feedback on the last chapter! :)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21:**

I wake up, feeling much happier than I have in several days. It takes me a minute to remember why: James and I are almost back to normal.

I get up and walk out into the kitchen, intent on getting some breakfast. I stop when I see a note sitting on the counter for me.

I walk over and grab it, reading over what it says. _Your first clue is the place where we first met. I blocked your sun, but you still fell in love._

I stare at the note from James confused for a minute. Why in the world did he leave this for me? It's obvious that he's talking about the pool, but what's so important about it?

Heading back into my room to change into normal clothes, I contemplate the clue. Yeah it's important since it's where we met. But that's the only thing I can think of for it.

Before going out the door, I grab my purse and car keys, not knowing what exactly James has planned. I go to the elevator and get out at the lobby. Walking over to the pool, I stop in the doorway of the lobby and look over at the seat I was on when we first met months ago. Lying there now is Logan, listening to music, just like I was.

I go over to him and he smiles when he sees me. "Good, you're here. These are for you," he says as he hands me a rose, a cd, and another note.

"What's this?" I ask looking at the cd confused.

"It's a cd he made of all of your favorite songs."

"Oh ok. Thanks Logan," I say before heading back to the lobby while reading the next note.

_Next the place where so many hits are made. I first heard you sing and knew I was in love._

I turn towards the parking lot, knowing the only place the next clue could be talking about is Rocque Records. Driving over quickly, I try to figure out what he's doing. The places so far have something important to us.

Getting to the studio, I go up and into the recording studio. Sitting there working on a song is my uncle. "Yo, L-dog. Nice of you to show up."

"Good to see you too," I reply sarcastically.

"Whatever. Here's your gift from the stupid boy," he says as he holds out a gift bag and another rose towards me.

I take it from him and pull out the contents of the bag. Inside is another note, and a gem encrusted microphone. It's mostly silver gems, but in red gems is _I James._ I giggle when I see this. Placing it back in the bag, I read the next note.

_Don't gotta look far for the next place. I felt the chemistry when we danced. I know you did too from one glance._

This note must be talking about the dance studio, when we were rehearsing for their concert. I start walking out of the room, "Bye, Gustavo!"

I just have to walk across the hall to get to the dance studio. Inside is Mr. X, working on a dance for the guys' song Time Of Our Life. I wait for him to finish the routine.

He sees me and stops the music, grabbing another bag and rose from next to the speakers. Dancing over, he hands them to me. "Here is your gift from the boy."

"Thanks, Mr. X. How are the dances going?"

"It's going x-cellent. Now, I'm sorry but I must get back to x-rehearsing them."

I turn out of the room while opening the new bag. This gift is a picture frame that has 'Music Sounds Better With U' engraved on it and holds a picture of us dancing from the concert. I smile as I remember that night and the fantastic concert.

I look at the next clue to find out the next place.

_Here's the place I met your best friend. She brought us closer together, convincing you to take a chance._

"The place where I met you best friend… What is he talking about?" I mumble to myself as I leave Rocque Records. The only person he could be talking about is Rachel. And the place she first met the guys was the lobby of the Palmwoods.

As I get in the car, I laugh over the memory of Rachel thinking the guys were there to carry her bags at first. I set the gifts on the seat next to me and make the short drive back to the Palmwoods.

Walking back in, I notice Bitters sitting at the front desk with a note propped up in front of him. I walk over to him, "Is this for me?"

"Yes. Now take it so I can leave," he says annoyed before turning into his office.

Sitting next to the note is a brightly colored drink and another rose. Under the drink is another note. _Enjoy this refreshing drink like the one we had at the club the night I met Rachel. Don't worry, there's no alcohol in it :)_

I take a sip of it, enjoying the fruity flavors. Grabbing the rose and drink, I read the next clue for this scavenger hunt James has sent me on.

_This place holds many memories for stars, including you and I. And I know I feel sparks fly, whenever you smile._

I smile at this note. The next place is definitely the place where we had our concert together. I grab my drink and the rose and skip out to the parking lot back to my car. I get in and put the cd James made in to listen to while driving to the arena, knowing I have a bit of a drive.

I pull up to the arena after about 20 minutes of driving. A security guard stops me at the front door, asking who I am. When I tell him who, he lets me in. I walk into the arena, heading through the gates to the floor seats.

There are only a couple of lights on stage, and I can see a person up there sitting on a stool, playing guitar and singing along. When I hear his voice, I realize its Kendall. "Oh, wherever the wind blows me. Yes you're the one and only girl on my mind."

I start making my way towards the stage, smiling at him singing Worldwide. "No, there ain't no one better. So always remember, girl you're mine."

I join in on singing the song as I make it to the stage. "Paris, London, Tokyo. Just one thing that I gotta do. Tuck you in every night on the phone."

Kendall stops playing and squints down to see me. "Oh hey, Lauren. I hadn't noticed you got here." He hops off the stool and walks to the edge of the stage and holds a hand out for me, and pulls me up on stage with him.

"Well it is kind of hard to see anything really past the first couple of rows," I reply as he sits back down. "So I'm assuming you have something to give me?"

"That's an accurate assumption," he says as he reaches down to the ground and picks up a rose and a note. He hands them to me then gives me the guitar pick he had been using.

"What's this?" I ask as I look at it. On the pick is a picture of me performing on one side and the other says Sparks Fly.

"This is so sweet of James," I say quietly, mostly to myself.

"Eh, I guess," Kendall says.

I look up to see him frowning slightly. "You're still not happy with him, are you?"

"No, I'm not," he replies and sighs. "But I've known him for years. I know he does stupid things, and this is just one of many things."

"Yeah it is," I respond. "Well I'm going to get going to the next clue. I'll see you later, Kendall."

"Bye, Lauren," he says before starting to play his guitar again.

I hop of the stage and read the next note while walking out of the arena.

_The best birthday surprise I could ever get was waking up to see your beautiful smiling face._

Well I guess I'm heading back to the Palmwoods. I walk outside, nodding to the security guard before getting in my car and starting to drive back. This clue must be about his birthday when Rachel and I woke him up.

After getting back to the Palmwoods, I grab everything so far to take back to my room. I go up to their apartment and Katie lets me in. I walk over to James' room and go over to his bed where the next gift and clue is waiting, again with a rose. A small box is sitting next to the rose. I pick it up and open it to see a beautiful pair of diamond earrings. I smile at them and set the box down to read the note.

_I can never forget that small space. Confessing to each other feelings we kept hidden._

I grab the things and walk out of his room, heading up to my apartment. I smile as I make my way up, knowing the clue is talking about the closet where we played seven minutes in heaven at our birthday party.

Walking in my apartment, I set the gifts down on my counter and walk back over to the closet. Opening up the door, I see a new note, another rose, and a small black box. I bend down and pick them all up and go back over to the counter. I set the rose and note down before opening the box. Inside is a ring with a heart on it with a diamond in the center. I smile at it, the ring being perfect.

I turn back to the note and read for the next clue.

_I took you out to town, where we saw a special poster. We ate way too much food, but you are my girl._

This clue has to be the restaurant where we had our first date. The places James has sent me to on this scavenger hunt all mean something important to James and I and our relationship, I've noticed.

I pick up the roses to take with me to the next clue, realizing James must have something important planned with them since there has been one at each clue.

Grabbing my stuff, I leave my apartment and go back to the lobby. Getting back in my car, I throw on a beanie and a pair of sunglasses, not wanting to be recognized when going into a busy area of LA.

After around a half hour of driving through traffic, I get to the restaurant. I park the car and walk inside. The waitress at the front looks up when she hears the door open and smiles at me. "Hi do you have a reservation?"

"Um, not exactly," I say as I walk over to you. "I was given a note to come here by my… friend," I add, hesitating as to what to call James.

Her face lights up in recognition. "Oh you must be Lauren!" I nod my head and she smiles at me. "Hold on one second, I'll be right back."

She walks away briefly and returns in less than a minute carrying a rose, a note, and a plate with a cannoli on it. "Here you go," she says as she hands it to me.

I look at the cannoli and smile, since there is all my favorite kinds of candy on it.

"Yeah, he ordered that special for you," she says as I take a bite of it. "So I'm kind of curious as to why he did this, if you don't mind telling me."

I sigh as I look at her. She looks so innocent and genuinely curious so I figure it would hurt to tell her. "Well long story short, James kissed another girl and I saw so we broke up. But it wasn't his fault so he's been trying to get me to forgive him. So he's sent me on this scavenger hunt where each place is somewhere important in our relationship."

She smiles at this and 'awws'. "That is so sweet. I think you should definitely forgive him. He seems like such a sweet guy."

I smile at her. "He is super sweet. And I am going to forgive him. I've realized that if he didn't love me and purposely kissed that girl, he would not go through all this trouble to get back with me."

"So where's the next place he's sending you to?"

"I'm not sure yet," I say as I look down at the note. _The thing we were in on that tragic night. I was absolutely terrified that I would lose my love._

"Hey, are you alright?" she asks concerned and that's when I notice I'm tearing up thinking about the night we were in the accident together.

"Yeah, sorry. The clue just reminded me of the serious car accident we got into a few weeks ago, and it made me upset."

"Oh I'm sorry." The door opens and she looks over. "I have to get back to work now. It was really nice meeting you. You know, you look so familiar, I feel like I've seen you before."

I laugh at this. "Yeah you probably have. Especially since the Hunger Games just premiered recently and my songs are on the radio."

The realization hits her as she looks at me. "You're Lauren Rocque," she says in shock. "Wow, I didn't think I would meet my idol today at work…" She trails off as she stares off. "Wait, then that means, the guy who dropped this off… I met James Diamond?"

I nod and smile. "Yep, you sure did."

She smiles and starts freaking out. "This is not happening. I did not meet my favorite celebrities today." Glancing over at me, she squeals lightly. "I can't believe this!"

"Do you have a piece of paper? I can give you an autograph."

She scrambles to find a piece. "Really? You'd do that for me?"

"Of course," I says as she hands me the paper and a pen. "Now, what's your name?"

"It's Alicia."

I write out a note quickly to her and sign it. "Here you go. It was great meeting you today, Alicia."

"Thank you so much. And I really hope everything gets better for you and James. You two are my favorite couple."

"Thank you," I say, appreciating the fact that she supports James and I. I smile at her and wave bye as I walk out the door.

I walk back to my car and start driving back to the Palmwoods, thinking about the latest clue. Obviously James didn't mean quite literally his car from that night. That car was completely wrecked. So I guess he must be talking about his new car.

I pull into the parking lot at the Palmwoods and park near James' car. I walk over and see a large box, another rose, and a note sitting inside it. I try the door and find it open.

I sit inside and open up the box. Inside is a dress exactly like the one I had been wearing the night of the accident. I smile as I hold it; James knew how much I loved that dress, but unfortunately it was ruined.

I put the dress back in the box and pick up the note to find out where the next clue takes me.

_That special night of seeing you on the big screen. I truly think you 'glimmered' at your role._

I laugh lightly at the pun he used as I get out of his car and go back to mine. Looks like the next stop for me is the Nokia Theater where the Hunger Games premiere was.

Driving the relatively short distance, I arrive at the theater and walk inside. An employ is working in there, but he stops when he hears me. "Are you Lauren?"

"Yes," I say as I walk up to him.

He hands me a small box and the expected rose and note before turning back to his work. I walk back outside to look at it, since the employee didn't seem too friendly.

Sitting in my car, I open up the box to find a charm bracelet. Looking at it closer, I find charms all relating to the Hunger Games. James is definitely one of the sweetest guys ever.

I put the bracelet on before picking up the note. _The place where we had our last date. The day had been perfect, until I messed up big time._

I start my car and pull out of the parking lot. "Let's go to the beach," I say to myself as I turn the radio on.

I hear Ryan Seacrest talking like he always is on this station. "So we have a brand new song for you guys to hear. I haven't even heard it myself yet. It was just given to us this morning, and word is it was just recorded yesterday. So this is Don't Hold Your Breath, by Lauren Rocque!"

I almost swerve into the other lane in shock over this. Why did my uncle already release this song for the radio? It was just recorded yesterday!

Despite being annoyed at my uncle for not telling me, I roll down my windows and sing along to the song. As I wait at a red light, I notice a couple people in cars near me are listening to the song, and one woman is bobbing her head along to it, a smile on her face.

I smile as I make the turn to the beach when the light turns green. It's the first time anyone in public is hearing the song, and it's already getting good responses.

I park and get out, looking out at the beach. I try to find where the next clue is. My eyes fall on the back of a familiar person, and I start walking towards them, slipping off my shoes as I walk on the sand.

"Hey Carlos," I say when I'm close enough to him.

He turns around and smiles at me. "Oh hey Lauren. It's about time you showed up. I've been waiting all day now."

"Please, like it was that big of a deal waiting at the beach all day," I say as I sit down next to him, noticing the giant teddy bear sitting on the blanket. On it is a rose, a note, and a heart shaped box with a bow. "I'm guessing this is the next thing?"

"Yep, it sure is," he responds lazily as he lies down and shuts his eyes from the sun.

I grab the note and read over it, smiling at the place.

_Finally, your last destination. Our spot in the park where we've had so many dates. Staring at the stars, holding you in my arms._

I stand up, grabbing the bear, rose, and chocolates. "Alright, Carlitos, I'm heading back to the Palmwoods for the last clue."

He looks up at me knowingly and smiles. "Have fun."

I walk the short distance back to my car, thinking about what Carlos just said. What's that supposed to mean? He probably knows what James is planning. Knowing that boy, it's probably something slightly insane.

The drive back to the Palmwoods takes about 15 minutes since there isn't much traffic out now in the late afternoon. I grab everything from the car before making my way over to the park.

I head right to the area we always go, secluded from the rest of the park and shaded by a tree. The spot comes into my sight, and I see James standing there, holding a rose. As I get closer, I notice the candles and rose petals surrounding him.

He's facing away and doesn't notice me until I drop everything on the ground. He turns around and smiles at me. "Lauren… Here's your last rose," he says as he holds it out to me.

I take it gently from him and look at it confused. "Um, James? Why is it plastic?"

I look up to see him standing right in front of me. "The roses represent how I'll love you until the last one dies."

"Yeah and this one is plastic…"

"That's exactly the point," he says smiling. He places a hand lightly on my cheek. "I'll always love you Lauren. No matter what happens. I'll do everything to make sure you never get hurt again. I love you so much. Please forgive me."

I smile up at him before throwing my arms around his neck and pulling him down to my level. I kiss him, letting my emotions pour through, showing him that I've forgiven him instead of just telling him. He starts kissing back, a smile playing at the corner of his lips.

I pull away and smile at him. I think about everything that he did for me today and know that no one would go through all that trouble for someone if they didn't truly love them. "Of course I forgive you."

He smiles at me so happy before picking me up a swinging me around in a circle. I laugh at him and he joins in before setting me down again. He kisses me lightly. "I promise you, you will not regret this. I'll never hurt you again."

"I know you won't."

**Yay they're finally back together! :D So did you like the whole scavenger hunt thing to places that were important to them? I think it was cute :) this chapter ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would be lol. I hope you liked it!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22:**

I stare out the window at the expanse of clouds, my head resting on James' shoulder. We're finally on our way to start their world tour. And our first stop is London.

I turn towards James and smile at him as he's sleeping. We've been happy together again for two weeks already. Almost everyone was accepting of us being back together. Carlos was ecstatic, since his two best friends were happy again. Kendall was a bit upset about it, but I just think he is just trying to look out for me. He really is a lot like the older brother I never had.

My uncle was not happy with it, to say the least. When we walked into the studio the next day holding hands, he started yelling a caused an earthquake again. Kelly had to hold him back to keep him from strangling James. I think it was because he still doesn't like James. It's something about him being like Matthew McConaughey or something stupid like that.

Glancing over at my uncle across the aisle, I see him glaring at James. He turns away when he notices me looking at him. I sigh and turn back to look out the window.

The funniest reaction had to be from Rachel. When she got back a couple days later, the first thing she did was go up to James and start hitting him with her purse, threatening to make sure he can never have kids if he ever hurt me again. She's been perfectly fine with him since then, but I think James is still a bit afraid of her.

I look back out the window and see the large expanse of the blue sea through a gap in the clouds. We have at least a few hours before we land in London. I close my eyes to take a nap to pass the time, curling up next to James.

~BTR~

"Carlos, for the last time, we're not part of a spy movie." I roll my eyes at him as I grab my bag from the luggage belt.

"You don't know that for sure," he says as he puts on a dark pair of sunglasses and looks around the airport.

"Dogs, get your bags already!" My uncle yells at them while walking over to us with Kelly.

"We have to get to our hotel so we can meet the world tour planner in an hour and a half," Kelly adds.

"Well we just need Kendall's bag and we're all set," Mama Knight says. "Oh there it is!"

He walks over and grabs his bag before turning to us. "Alright let's go."

We start walking out of the airport and I grab James hand and swing his arm with mine as I smile up at him. "This is going to be such a fun tour."

"It sure is," he replies as we all get in the car waiting for us.

After our bags are all packed, we start driving to the hotel. "When we get to the hotel, you guys will all be able to sign a few things for the fans waiting," Kelly says as she flips through the large book on her lap.

"Got it," they all reply.

I glance over at Katie and become confused when I see her wearing a tiara. "Katie, why are you dressed like that?"

"We're in London. I'm going to become a princess," she responds while adjusting her gloves.

Mama Knight sighs in exasperation before turning to her daughter. "Katie, for the last time! You are not going to become a princess."

"That's what you think," she says grumpily as she crosses her arms and glares out the window.

I chuckle lightly at her as we pull up to the hotel.

The guys start to open the door before my uncle stops them. "Dogs don't mess this tour up by doing something stupid."

"We won't," Kendall says before opening the door and screaming a bit. He runs out and the other guys quickly follow him.

Gustavo lets out a noise in protest and I turn to him and pat his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on them."

I step out of the car and walk over to the fans waiting. I sign a bunch of things and take pictures with them before walking in to the hotel.

The guys are standing inside, waiting for the rest of us. Kelly walks in and approaches us. "You guys can walk around the lobby for a few minutes while I go check in and get the keys for our rooms."

The guys all go to different areas of the lobby: Carlos trying to be a spy, James trying to get Kendall to put his bag down, and Logan looking at all of the architecture of the building. I go over to the couch and sit down, pulling out my phone. I check through my messages before going on twitter. 'At the hotel in London. So excited for this tour! :D' I tweet before putting my phone away.

I look up to see Kelly and my uncle getting the guys to come back over. Getting up I walk over to them. Kelly tries to hand us the card keys but they slip out of her hands. We all bend down to grab them, handing them back to Kelly.

"Alright, here's the keys to the suites. You guys can head up, but don't break anything." The guys all have stopped paying attention to her after she said suites. They take off running towards the stairs in excitement, leaving my uncle and Kelly standing here worried.

I shake my head at them and chuckle lightly as I grab my bag and start walking towards the elevator with Katie and Mama Knight. Whenever we are staying at a hotel on this tour, I'll be sharing a room with them just for convenience.

We walk in the room and I place my bag on one of the beds in the room to start unpacking. I start pulling out my clothes and things I would need for the show tonight as Mama Knight starts unpacking her and Katie's things.

"Mom, can we go down to the lobby?" Katie asks as she bounces on her bed.

She stops unpacking to look at Katie like she's crazy. "We need to get settled first! You know I would go down to the lobby sooner with you if you helped me unpack."

"And you know that I'm not going to do that," Katie replies back to her.

She sighs as she turns back to the suitcases and I laugh lightly. The door opens and I look up to see my uncle, Kelly, and the person I'm guessing is the tour manager. "L-dog, we need to go talk to the rest of the dogs about how this tour is going to go."

Gustavo waves his hand to get going and I set down my things before walking out of the suite with them. We walk over the short distance to the room next to mine that's for the guys.

"Now I'm just going to go over what is going to happen on this tour with you and the guys," the tour manager says in his strong accent.

Kelly opens the door and we all freeze when we see the wreck that's the guys' suite. The back window is open and the guys are nowhere in sit.

"What have those dogs done now?" my uncle says in a panic.

The tour manager turns to my uncle frowning. "This tour hasn't even started yet and you have already lost me money. Make sure the guys are at soundcheck in an hour or I'll cancel this tour." He turns around and leaves my uncle and Kelly standing there petrified.

I walk into the room and go through some of the mess in the room. "What have those guys gotten themselves into now?"

**So yes, as I'm sure most of you have realized, I'm going to have the events of Big Time Movie in here! :D I hadn't been sure if I would or not, but I realized it would be fun. And besides, it'll be in a different view than the guys' like in the movie. I hope you like the story! :)**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23:**

**Thank you to A Rose With Many Thorns, TeamEdmundAndPeter, and MissGarcia-Schmidt-Maslowluver for the reviews. I really appreciate it :)**

"Katie, I'm not going to dress up with you like a princess all day long!" I turn to the girl sitting on her bed where she's fixing her gloves.

"Why not? I'm going to get my mom to marry the Duke of Bath and then I'll be royalty. I bet he has some attractive relative you could marry instead of dating James."

"I'm not going to do that!" I shout at her. She looks at me like I'm crazy and I take a deep breath before continuing slightly less angry. "Sorry I'm just worried about what the guys are up to. I haven't seen them in almost two hours, and who knows what trouble they're getting in."

Katie stands up and walks over to me. "Well you have fun looking for them. I'm going to finish getting ready for meeting the Duke again in a little bit with my mom."

"Fine. Don't even care about your brother and his three best friends are missing." I storm out of the room, slamming the door behind me. As I walk out into the hallway, I start taking off the gloves that Katie made me wear.

I stop when I look up and see several men standing in the hallway in front of me. "Well hello Miss Rocque," the creepy guy in the center wearing a white suit says.

"What do you want? I don't have time to give autographs right now," I start walking forward, trying to push through them, but two of the guys grab onto my arms. "What are you doing? Let go of me!"

I start struggling against them but their grip only gets tighter. I flail out and try to kick them. One of the kicks lands on one of the guys and he lets go to fall over in pain. I get my other arm out of the other guys grip and start running away from them.

As I run down the hallway, trying to get away from them, I feel something sharp pierce my leg. My vision starts fading and I can feel myself falling to the ground before everything goes black.

~BTR~

As I open my eyes, I squint against the light of the room. I try lifting my hands up to rub at my face but I can barely move them. I glance down to see ropes tied around them.

I start trying to move my arms and legs to get out of there, panic starting to set in. Did those guys really kidnap me? A man starts laughing and my head shoots up to look at him.

Standing in front of several computer monitors and a bunch of technology is the creepy guy in the white suit. "Who are you? And why the hell did you kidnap me?"

He starts walking down steps towards me. "My name is Sir Atticus Moon. And why did I kidnap you? Well your precious boy band has something of mine. And I want it back."

"Oh really? What exactly did Big Time Rush take from you?" I ask him sarcastically. I don't know who this man is or why he things four 18 year olds in a boy band would have stolen something from him.

"They managed to get into possession of an anti-gravitational device of mine called the beetle that I am going to use to rule the world." My face must show shock at this because he starts laughing. "Yes, I plan to rule the world. But I need the beetle back before I can do that. And you're going to help me."

"I'm not going to help you," I respond and glare at him.

"Oh you've already helped enough." He turns around and starts walking towards the controls. "Now how about we give your little boyfriend a call."

He types something out on the keyboard and the screen lights up with the guys and two other people I don't know with them.

"Hello, Big Time Rush. You have something of mine," Atticus says to them

"Well you're not getting it back!" Carlos says defiantly. I strain to try and see them around Atticus who's blocking most of the screen.

"Really? Well you might want to think again." He steps to the side so the guys can see me.

"Lauren!" They all shout out. James walks towards the screen, a look of panic on his face. He puts his hand on the screen as if he could reach through to me.

"James," I say quietly, feeling tears coming at seeing his face so upset.

Atticus starts laughing at this and paces back and forth in front of the screen. "Yes, if you don't give me the beetle back, well, Lauren might just get into a little accident." I glance over to my left to see Maxwell standing there with his hammer arm, looking menacing.

I turn back to the screen and look at James. "I love you," he whispers.

"I love you too," I whisper back to him as Atticus starts talking again, not noticing our short exchange.

"You have one hour to give me the beetle. Or else you won't see Lauren again."

He walks back over to the controls to end the video. James shouts out as he notices this. "I'll save you Lauren! I promise!" They screen shuts off and I put my head down, feeling the tears falling down my face.

"You're not going to get away with this," I say to Atticus, picking my head up to glare at him through my tears.

"Oh I think I will. Judging on what just happened, I think your little boyfriend James will give me the beetle." He starts walking across the room. "Now, I have some important matters to get to before I get the beetle back."

The door slams shut behind him and I lean my head back against the chair. I shut my eyes, trying not to think of James' face when he saw me. I stare up at the ceiling, having nothing else to do while waiting to see what would happen.

~BTR~

I look up when I hear Atticus laughing as he walks back into the room. I turn my head to see behind my chair and see him holding the beetle. "What did you do to them?"

"I didn't do anything to your beloved boys," he replies as he walks over to the computer and starts typing things.

"Then how did you get the beetle? Because I know they wouldn't have given it to you."

"Oh we got it from some silly Swedish secret agents who were trying to take it from them." He places the beetle on a special spot for it and it starts glowing. A countdown appears on the screen with the moon behind it. "Now we just have to wait a few minutes and then I can start taking over the world."

"It's never going to work. Someone will stop you."

"Oh yeah? Like who?" Atticus pauses as an alarm starts going off behind him. He turns back and looks at the screen. "Who is trying to get into my mansion?"

He starts typing and I struggle to try to get the ropes loose, but it doesn't work. I look back up at the screen to see a picture appear of who's approaching the mansion, and I can't help but smile.

"Darn you, Big Time Rush!"

**I don't know how I feel about this chapter. It's kind of boring in my opinion. Oh well. So sorry for not writing this sooner, last week I was focusing on filling out my application to get into the National Honor Society for my school. Obviously that took priority over writing the next chapter for this. Well let me know what you think about this.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24:**

**Thank you to Bernzie, MissGarcia-Schmidt-Maslowluver, and TeamEdmundAndPeter for your reviews on the last chapter :)**

Guards are running around everywhere as Atticus turns back to the countdown on the screen, showing only minutes left.

A door bursts open behind me and I turn in my seat and see the guys all standing there. They start attacking the guards, trying to get over to Atticus. Logan and Carlos go around shooting the guards running towards them. Kendall and the girl run past me.

"I told you I would save you," I hear James say as he stops next to the chair and starts untying the ropes.

"I knew you would," I say smiling at him. He gets one arm free and moves to get the other hand free, but is thrown to the side by Maxwell. "James!"

James falls to the ground and Maxwell starts walking towards him. I frantically start getting the ropes off of my wrist to try and help him. I glance back up to see him suddenly fall to the ground. James is looking at someone to my left and I glance to see Logan holding a pen facing Maxwell.

James hops off the ground and returns to trying to get me free as Logan goes and runs off to fight some of the guards. I get free and I jump up and pull him towards me, kissing him quickly. We pull apart when we hear evil laughing and turn towards Atticus. The timer has hit zero and the laser is firing at the moon.

"Oh no," I whisper mostly to myself.

All of a sudden, someone falls from the sky, knocking over Atticus and hitting the switch to turn the laser off. "Did I get him?" Kendall asks, looking up at us from the ground.

I sigh in relief at Atticus being stopped as the guys run over to help Kendall. James grabs the beetle off of its spot, stopping the laser from possibly being fired again.

Suddenly someone grabs me and starts dragging me backwards. I scream and start thrashing around. "Let go of me!"

I see the guys start running after me as Atticus starts laughing evilly right behind me. He drags me through his mansion and out onto the lawn where a helicopter is waiting. He stops in front of it, holding on to me with one hand, a gun in the other.

The guys run up and pause when they see him. "Stop right there, Big Time Rush. Now give me the beetle if you want your little friend back."

I look over at James who is holding the beetle. I can see the conflicting thoughts pass over his face as he sees me being held captive. I nod my head at him to give the beetle to Atticus, a plan forming in my head.

He stares over at me confused. "Trust me," I silently say to him.

James nods and smiles at me briefly before turning to Atticus. "Alright, you want it, then catch," he says as he throws the beetle.

Atticus throws the gun to the side and that's when I make my move. I kick him right in the shin and he falls over in pain, clutching his leg. The beetle lands on the middle of his back and I press the button for it to open. I back away from him as he stands up, trying to grab it.

"Where is it?" he shouts as he reaches around his back. He starts floating up into the air because the beetle and starts screaming.

I run over to James and hug him tightly. He holds onto me, pulling me close to him. "I'm so sorry this happened."

"At least we saved the world," I say as I smile up at him. I place my head back on his chest as a bunch of cars pull up.

A bunch of people get out and walk over to us. I don't recognize any of them, but the guys seem to.

"Well done Big Time Rush," the middle aged man at the front says to them. "Sorry about thinking you were bad boys when really you're good boys who were never bad boys at all." I stare at him confused, trying to decipher what he just said.

"Is there anything the British secret service good do for you since you saved the world?" the woman to the man's right asks us.

"Well we were supposed to start our world tour here tonight and we're a bit late," Kendall replies to them.

"Well we can get you there no problem!" The man says and gestures to the helicopter behind us.

We smile at each other before running onto it. We get buckled in and the pilot takes off, heading to the arena. I lean my head on James shoulder as I look out the window. He kisses the top of my head before putting his arm around me, pulling me closer.

I see the arena approaching and I start smiling. "So we're really about to start our world tour."

"Yep," the guys all reply smiling.

The copilot turns around to look at us. "We're going to drop you down into the arena on ladders, alright? We are almost there so you should get ready."

I unbuckle myself and stand up, the guys all ready next to me. The helicopter starts to hover over the stage and two ladders are dropped down a bit. "Wait, there are only two ladders and there are five of us. How are we all going to get down?"

"I hold onto you," James says as we walk to the door. He climbs onto one of the ladders and holds out his hand for me. I carefully step down and he wraps one arm around me, holding me tight. Carlos gets on the other side of our ladder, and I can see Kendall and Logan hanging from the other.

We start getting lowered down to the stage and the crowd starts screaming like crazy. I smile and wave at them, getting excited over being about to perform.

The ladder stops at the stage and we all get down, then the helicopter flies away. The guys head backstage and I go to the side where the stage manager hands me my microphone. I turn to the band and see them ready to go.

I nod my head to them and they start playing the beginning of Last Friday Night. I sing the song, the crowd having so much energy.

I take a short break from the song to talk to the crowd briefly. "What's up, London?" I shout and I'm met with the screams of the crowd. "So I have had the craziest first day here in London. And it's just made me so excited to be performing now!" The crowd responds with loud screams and I smile at them. "Alright how about another song? This is Bad Romance."

I sing through the song and then sing Hold It Against Me. I stop to talk to the crowd one last time before I start the last song. "So this last song is really special to me since I wrote it myself. It's about a certain someone who means the world to me." I glance to the side of the stage and see James standing there and I smile at him.

"But when I first wrote this, he had no idea how I felt. But I took a chance and now I am probably the luckiest girl in the world with the sweetest boyfriend ever." The crowd cheers and I can hear a lot of people saying aww. I look over at James. "I love you," I say away from the microphone, knowing he can't hear me but will know what I'm saying.

He smiles and responds, "I love you too."

I turn back to the crowd and smile at them before going over to the band and grabbing my guitar. As I put the strap on my shoulder I say to the crowd, "Alright this is Sparks Fly."

I start playing my guitar with the band playing. "The way you move is like a full on rainstorm. And I'm a house of cards. You're the kind of reckless that should send me running but I kind of know that I won't get far."

I smile as I look out at the crowd and see almost everyone singing along. "And you stood there in front of me just close enough to touch. Close enough to hope you couldn't see what I was thinking of."

I start jumping around the stage as I start singing the chorus. "Drop everything now. Meet me in the pouring rain. Kiss me on the sidewalk, talk away the pain. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile. Get me with those brown eyes baby as the lights go down. Give me something that'll haunt me when you're not around. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile."

The crowd starts screaming really loudly as I get to the second verse and I'm confused at first. I start singing but stop when I hear someone else singing over the speakers.

I turn to the side of the stage and see James walking towards me, smiling at me as he sings the song. "My mind forgets to remind me you're a bad idea. You touch me once and it's really something. You find I'm even better than you imagined I would be."

James gets over to where I'm standing in shock and winks at me. "I'm on my guard for the rest of the world but with you I know it's no good. And I could wait patiently but I really wish you would."

I join in singing the chorus with him and smile at him. "Drop everything now. Meet me in the pouring rain. Kiss me on the sidewalk, talk away the pain. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile. Get me with those brown eyes baby as the lights go down. Give me something that'll haunt me when you're not around. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile."

He walks over to one side of the stage as I get to the bridge of the song. I start walking over to him as I sing. "I run my fingers through your hair and watch the lights go wild."

James takes over singing the next line as I get to him and starts walking towards the back of the stage. "Just keep on keeping your eyes on me, it's just wrong enough to make it feel right."

He starts walking backwards up the stairs that are for them and I follow right behind him. The way he smirks at me makes me think he planned this for when I sang the next line. "And lead me up the staircase won't you whisper, soft and slow."

"I'm captivated by you baby like a firework show." He lowers his microphone as he stands right in front of me at the top of the stage set up.

"Drop everything now, meet me in the pouring rain," I start singing as the song slows down briefly. He goes behind me and wraps his arms around me, putting his hands over mine and playing the guitar with me. "Kiss me on the sidewalk, take away the pain," he quickly kisses me on the cheek before pulling away and smiling at me. "'Cause I see sparks fly, whenever you smile."

James joins back in singing for the chorus and starts heading down one side of the stairs. I head down the other, smiling at him the whole time. "Get me with those brown eyes baby as the lights go down. Give me something that'll haunt me when you're not around. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile."

We meet back in the center of the stage and stop in front of each other. "And the sparks fly. Oh baby smile."

James smiles at me before singing the last line with me. "And the sparks fly."

The crowd bursts into cheers, but I hardly notice them. All I see is James standing right in front of me. "I love you," I whisper but it's picked up by the microphone.

"I love you too," he says loudly, and I think he is purposely trying to make it get picked up by my microphone.

James puts both hands on my face before leaning in and kissing me in front of everyone. I run one hand through his hair as I kiss him back, never wanting the kiss to end after missing him all day.

We pull away and I finally notice the crowd cheering. I step back from James and turn to them smiling. He grabs onto my hand and leads me up to the edge of the stage. "Give it up for Lauren!"

Everyone starts cheering and I smile at them all and take a quick bow. "Thank you guys so much. Now who's ready for Big Time Rush?"

They all scream and I laugh lightly. I turn to James and take his hand before heading off stage, swinging his hand with mine. Once we're out of sight and I've given my microphone to the stage manager, I turn to James. "That had to be the sweetest thing you have ever done."

"Well it was kind of a last minute idea. I wanted to show you just how much you mean to me, especially after what happened today. What you said before the song made me come up with the idea."

"Well I absolutely loved it," I say and can't stop smiling at him.

"I absolutely love you," he replies and starts leaning in to kiss me, but is interrupted by the guys.

"Hey I know you're happy to see each other again, but we have to get ready, lover boy," Kendall jokingly says as the guys walk up to us.

"Go have an awesome show," I say to James and kiss him on the cheek before walking out of the way so they can get ready.

They go out and perform, the crowd just has so much energy. I stay on the side of the stage and cheer them on the whole time. After performing for almost an hour, they finish the show.

They get back stage, and suddenly Kelly and Gustavo walk out with a goat near them.

"What happened to you?" I ask them concerned.

"You don't even want to know," Kelly says as she sits down on one of the chairs backstage.

"What happened to you dogs?" Gustavo asks us, glaring at the guys.

They all look at each other and smile before responding. "You don't even want to know."

"But the show was fantastic, and the tour had a great start," I say quickly before my uncle can start yelling at the guys.

"Good. Now we have to get going so we can get to our next show for tomorrow. Let's head out!" My uncle says and starts leading the way out of the arena.

I walk next to James and wrap my arms around his waist as we start walking out and he puts his arm around me. "This has definitely been the craziest day ever. I really hope the rest of the tour isn't like this."

"What, you mean you didn't like getting kidnapped by an evil villain and having us come in and save the world?" James jokingly asks as we walk out and get in a limo to head back to the hotel.

"No I didn't."

"Well I'm sure the rest of the tour is going to be completely normal," he says reassuringly as I lean against him in the limo.

"With you guys? I doubt it," I joke with him and smile. "But even if it is crazy, at least I'll be spending it with you."

**Ok so I seriously think the whole James singing with Lauren for Sparks Fly thing was the cutest thing ever. I honestly hadn't planned that until I was starting to write that part of this chapter. But I love it! Sometimes I surprise myself with the ideas I come up with lol :)**

**So I'm not sure how much I'm going to have of the tour. I don't think I'll have a lot because I personally think it would be pretty boring. So let me know what you think of this chapter! :D**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25:**

**Thanks to starshine33, LilyHeartsJamesxxx, and TeamEdmundandPeter for the reviews on the last chapter! :)**

"I am just so exhausted," I say as I lean against James, watching the luggage start going past.

"I know," he says as he runs a hand over my hair soothingly. "But in a few hours, we'll be able to relax with no worries going on."

"True," I say and walk up and grab my suitcase as I see it start passing by. I drag it back over to James slowly and sit on it once I'm next to him. "After two and a half months, 60 shows, 33 countries, getting kidnapped by an evil villain and saving the world, we're finally back home."

"But we're not staying here long. Our flight leaves in 5 hours so we have some time to sit around back at the Palmwoods and see everyone before leaving again."

He walks up to grab his suitcase and I smile over leaving in a couple hours. My uncle is giving us all three weeks off since we just finished our tour. So James and I decided to go on vacation for a week together.

The guys, Kelly, Gustavo, Mama Knight, and Katie all walk over after grabbing their luggage. I stand up and grab mine as we start heading towards the door.

"So there are probably going to be fans and paparazzi waiting by the exit," Kelly says as we wait in line to get out of baggage claim.

"Great. I just want to get home," I say and sigh in annoyance. As much as I love my fans, I really don't feel like signing anything.

"Well what do you expect? You've all been out of the country for a couple months. The fans have missed you all," Kelly replies as we almost get to the exit.

I hear fans start screaming and I put a smile on my face. The airport security walks around us to keep us safe from fans. Even though they don't want us to, I still sign some things for fans.

After a few minutes, we get ushered out of the airport by security just to be met with paparazzi waiting. I ignore them as I get into the limo waiting out front for us. We leave after a few minutes when all of the suitcases are packed in the trunk somehow.

I lean on James as I look out the window and smile at the familiar places in LA. I've missed it here so much.

We get stuck in some traffic like usual here in LA, and finally get back to the hotel. I jump out of the limo as soon as it pulls up in front of the Palmwoods; I've had enough sitting for today after flying back from Japan and I don't want to stay still for now.

I wait for the guys before heading into the lobby. I don't get far before I hear someone familiar screaming my name. "Lauren!"

I squeal in excitement before running up to Rachel and hugging her. "I've missed you!"

"I know, it's been too long!" She says as she pulls away and smiles at me. She sees the guys over my shoulder and runs over to hug each of them.

"So how was the tour?" Rachel asks as we start walking to the elevator.

"Crazy," I reply as we pile into the elevator. "I'm so glad to be back home."

"Well you won't be for long," she replies as the doors open on the guys' floor.

James turns to me before stepping off with the rest of the guys. "I'm going to go pack my things for our vacation and get ready. Then I'll head up to your apartment." He kisses me quickly on the cheek before walking out. "Love you."

"Love you too." I smile and wave at him as the doors close.

"I can't get over how adorable you two are," Rachel says, smiling at me. The doors open and we walk out, and I drag my suitcase behind me. "Like when he sang Sparks Fly with you at the show in London, that just so cute."

"Wait, how do you know about that?" I ask her confused as she opens the door to our apartment and we walk in. I go straight to the couch and lay down.

Rachel sits down on the other couch and smiles at me before replying. "Oh I kept up to date with everything that happened on your tour. It was all over the news here after the concert. And I've watched the video of it on youtube a few times."

"Oh I didn't know that many people have known about it." I shrug my shoulders. "I had no idea James was even going to do that."

"Yeah I could tell from your face when he first started singing." Rachel stands up from the couch and heads over to the kitchen and starts getting food out for lunch. "So I got a suitcase of everything you'll need for your vacation all packed for you. I did go out and buy a few things."

"Thank you so much," I say as I get up and walk over to the counter. I sit down on one of the stools and grab one of the apples she took out and take a bite.

"So when are you guys leaving?" she asks as she leans against the counter.

"In a couple hours. I'm going to go shower and get ready now so then I can just relax for a bit."

I hop of my stool and start heading to my bedroom. "Alright, sounds good," I hear Rachel reply behind me.

~BTR~

"Here are your keys. You can get to your room over to the left there," the man at the front desk says as he hands James the keys and points across the lobby. "Have a great stay here."

I lean against James as we start walking away from the front desk. "So what do you want to do first?" He asks as he puts his arm around my waist and holds me close.

I shrug my shoulders as I look around the spacious lobby and take in the warm breeze blowing through. "I'm hungry, so let's just go to the buffet."

"Whatever you want to do," James agrees and we walk over to the buffet at the end of the lobby. We get taken to our table right away and I go get my food immediately.

James sits down across from me and smiles before starting to eat his food. "I'm so glad we get a whole week to just sit around and relax on the beach."

"I know, right?" I reply to him between bites of food. "I loved being on tour and everything, but it was just getting to be way too much."

"I agree," he says, and we sit in silence for a couple minutes enjoying our food.

I start zoning out, exhausted from a day of traveling, when I feel someone tap on my arm. I turn to look and see a little girl smiling at me. She couldn't even be ten.

"Are you Lauren Rocque?" she asks me shyly.

I smile at her before reply. "Yes, I am." Her face lights up at this and I can't help but smile more. This is seriously one of the best parts about meeting fans. "What's your name?"

"Alyssa," the little girl responds happily as an older woman walks up to her looking worried.

"I'm so sorry about her bothering you," the woman, who I assume is her mother, says to me apologetically.

"It's no problem at all. I love getting to meet fans," I say and glance over at James, who nods in agreement.

"Then do you think I could get a picture of her with you two? She's a huge fan of you both."

"Of course," I say smiling at Alyssa. James agrees and gets up from his seat to stand next to me and Alyssa.

Her mom takes the picture and I hug Alyssa before she leaves with her mom. I sit back in my seat and smile at James. "I love meeting fans. It's such a rewarding feeling knowing that someone looks up to you like that."

"Very true. So what do you want to do tomorrow?" James asks as he smiles and holds onto one of my hands across the table.

"Can we just relax on the beach and do absolutely nothing?"

James contemplates this for a second before smiling at me again. "Sounds like a plan."

**Ok so I seriously think this is such a boring chapter and such a filler. But I just really wanted to get something posted since I haven't in awhile. But I promise, something exciting will happen next chapter! :D**

**So as for why I haven't updated sooner, I've been super busy lately. I was busy two weeks ago with a huge amount of break assignments. And then that Friday I went to Florida for 5 days for my cousin's wedding. It was seriously the cutest thing ever. I know you probably don't care, but whatever lol. And then last week I had a lot of work to make up with like no time, and I got so little sleep. So I really didn't have time to write. And then this weekend, I left on Wednesday for a band trip to Chattanooga, TN. It was so much fun and I was so busy. Except for the 14 hour bus ride. That was not fun.**

**This brings me to my next point. I'm going to take a little break from writing. It's only going to be for the next couple of weeks. It is just going to be too busy for me to write. The main reason for the break is because I have 3 really important tests coming up: SATs on May 5****th****, AP US History exam on May 11****th****, and AP Biology exam on May 14****th****. So yeah, I really need to focus on studying for those. I need to do well.**

**So sorry for the break in my writing. I promise you I will start writing again after May 19****th****, because that's when my prom is. After that, I won't have much to do until my final exams in June, but those are a joke and super easy. Please don't give up on my stories. I promise you I will be continuing them. I just have to make studying a priority right now.**

**I may write the next chapter for this tonight, so you may get it before my break! :)**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26:**

**Thank you very much to Dana2184 for the review! I really appreciate it! :)**

I stare out at the water, the sun setting behind us as I lean against James, holding his hand in mine. I think about the past week and can't help but smile at the great times I've had with James.

The first few days we spent just relaxing at the hotel and on the beach. We tried out archery at the hotel, but stopped after James almost hit the instructor. Then we spent a day snorkeling at some of the beaches here. People aren't lying when they say that Cancun has the best beaches.

Today, on our last day, James took me to the spa to relax all day, and then we went to the nicest restaurant on the resort. After we finished, he led me down to the beach to enjoy the last minutes of sunlight.

"What are you thinking about?"

I glance up at him and see him looking down at me, a smile tugging at the edge of his mouth. But there's something in his eyes that prevent him from fully smiling. Nervousness? Worry?

I shrug it off and respond to him. "All the fun things we've done this trip. How I don't want to leave yet. You."

"I was thinking about me too!" He jokingly says and starts laughing. I lightly smack him on the chest and shake my head at his narcissism. "No, but seriously, I was thinking about something important."

His sudden seriousness throws me off guard and I turn so I can face him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong," James replies quickly, noticing I was starting to worry. "No, everything is actually fantastic right now."

James pauses and takes a deep breath before he continues. "I just want to say that you are honestly the most perfect person I have ever met." I start to protest but he holds up his hand to stop me. "You may not think it, but I do. You're perfect for me. You know, ever since I first met you, I couldn't help but fall in love. And every day since then, I've started loving you more."

I blush at what he's said and look down at the ground. He lifts up my chin so I can look at him. "I honestly don't know what I would do if I wasn't with you. It took those few days of when we broke up for me to realize that I never want to be without you."

James pauses again and steps back a bit. He starts digging around in his coat pocket. "James, what are you-"

I stop and gasp as he gets down on one knee and pulls out a small black case, opening it to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. "Lauren, will you marry me?"

I gasp and start sputtering as I stare at him, trying to get out a word. Finally, I speak. "Yes."

James starts smiling with such joy when he hears this. "Really?" I nod and smile, looking at him through the tears of happiness that are starting to form. He laughs happily as he places the ring on my finger.

I look down at the ring as he stands up. He suddenly picks me up and starts spinning me around in a circle and I join in laughing with him. I just can't help it, I'm so happy.

James sets me down after a few seconds and I smile up at him. The look he gives me is just pure love. I could not have found a more perfect boyfriend, wait, fiancée.

He starts leaning in and I throw my arms around his neck, closing the distance between us. Our lips meet with such emotion, all of his love being shown in his kiss.

His arms wrap around my waist and pull me closer to him as the kiss deeps, our need for each other becoming so much greater. James pulls away slightly to talk in between kisses. "I love you. So much."

Without breaking the kiss, he suddenly sweeps me up into his arms and starts walking. I pull back to look at him in shock. "What are you doing?"

"Getting us back to the room," he says nonchalantly.

"And I can't walk myself?" I ask him jokingly.

"Shh, don't ruin the moment," James whispers as we get inside the building.

I blush as a family passes us and stares at us weirdly. I wrap my arms around his neck as he steps onto the elevator with me. "Guess what?" I ask him as I smile at him.

"What?" He happily asks back.

"I love you." I lean the short distance and kiss him lightly as the doors open onto our floor.

James quickly walks out and makes his way swiftly down the hallway to our room at the end. He opens the door quickly when we get to it and walks in. Only then does he finally set me down, kicking the door closed behind him. He immediately pulls me towards him again, kissing me passionately.

He starts walking me backwards as his hands run up and down my body. My hands go to the front of his shirt and undo his tie and start unbuttoning his shirt before I fall backwards onto the bed as my legs hit it.

James gently picks me up and places me back down in a more comfortable spot, hovering over me without placing his weight on me.

I slip his shirt off as he starts trailing kisses down my neck and I run my fingers over is abs. "Lauren, are you sure?" He whispers against my neck, sending shivers through me. His hands reach behind me and start playing with the zipper on my dress.

"Yes," I answer with no doubt.

James lifts his head up to press his lips against mine again, but in a sweet kiss, unlike the rushed kisses earlier. "I love you so much."

"I love you too."

~BTR~

"Good morning, future Mrs. Diamond," James says as soon as he notices I'm awake.

I look up and smile at him before resting my head on his chest again. "I like the sound of that."

I stare aimlessly at the room, tracing random patterns on his chest as I listen to his heartbeat. "I love you so much."

James kisses the top of my head, "I love you too." He pauses and he sighs. "I really don't want to leave here yet."

"Me neither. But we have too," I say with a shrug of my shoulders. "Hey, what time is it?"

He reaches over to the dresser and grabs his phone. He squints at the screen for a second. "Umm, 10:12."

"What?" I ask in shock as I sit up and look over at the clock in the room. "We have to leave the hotel at 11 to go to the airport, and I'm not packed at all!"

I go over to my suitcase and through on the first clean clothes I find. I start just throwing everything in, then go over to James' suitcase and toss clothes to him. "Here, just wear this. I guess we won't be showering before we leave because we don't have time."

I start running around the room, trying to get everything together. I don't even notice James has gotten up until he places his hands on my shoulder, causing me to jump. "Hey, calm down, we'll get everything packed. No point in getting stressed out about it."

I take a deep breath and lean against him for a second. "You're right. I guess this is why I'm marrying you." I step back to see a huge smile on his face at this. "Alright, let's get this all packed, and you're helping."

With James helping, we get packed and down to the lobby with a few minutes to spare. It takes us about 20 minutes to get to the airport and after we get through security, we finally get to relax for a bit.

I plop down on one of the chairs and get my phone out. James sets his stuff down and looks at me. "Hey I'm going to go get us something to eat since we didn't have time for breakfast."

"Alright, sounds good," I say smiling at him before he walks away.

I turn back to my phone and get on twitter. I catch up on a few tweets before sending one. 'I seriously am the happiest person ever right now '

I set my phone down after it sends and after only a few seconds, it starts ringing with a phone call. I smile when I see who it is. "Hello?"

"Lauren!" I hear Carlos shout and have to pull the phone away from ear because he's so loud. "I've missed you!"

I laugh at his excitement. "I missed you too, Carlos. But it's only been a week. It hasn't been that long."

"I know, but my two best friends have been gone. I'm lonely." He pauses briefly before continuing. "So how was your vacation? How's James?"

"Great." I look over to where James is walking back with food and coffee, and I smile at him before looking down at the ring on my left hand. "Very great."

I can hear him take a deep breath in excitement before he talks. "You two totally had sex!"

"Carlos!" I say to him annoyed. "I am not going to talk to you about my sex life." James sits down then and looks at me really confused, but I just shake my head.

"Did James seduce you before or after he proposed?"

"Carlos, James did not seduce… Wait, how do you know about him proposing?"

I hear Carlos scoff at this like the answer is obvious. "Lauren, I'm best friends with both people in your relationship. I find out about everything between the two of you."

"Remind me to never tell you anything again," I jokingly say to him. He starts saying something but I shush him as a flight attendant makes an announcement about our flight starting to board. "Hey I have to go, my flight is boarding now. But I'll see you and everyone else in a few hours."

James looks at me for an explanation as I put my phone away and grab my bags. "Carlos seems to think that you had to seduce me for me to say yes to you."

James just laughs at this as we hand our boarding passes to the attendant at the desk. He waits to respond until we are past the desk and walking to the airplane. "Typical Carlos to think that. Oh well, I'm the one who's going to be marrying the greatest person ever, and not him." I blush and look down at the ground. Sometimes I just can't get over how sweet he is.

"I love you," he says before kissing me on the cheek.

"I love you too," I reply right away and grab his hand with my left, looking at the ring on it. "Alright, let's get home."

"But I am home, as long as I'm with you."

**Ok I just absolutely love this chapter. It's probably one of my favorites. And I just had to write it after I finished the last one, I couldn't wait. So now I actually will be starting my break with writing this until May 20****th**** just so I can focus on studying. I really hope you won't give up on the story and just wait a bit! :)**


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27:**

"Lauren, what are you doing here?" I hear my uncle ask me as I walk in to Rocque Records.

Kelly glances up from the papers she's looking at and gives me a confused glance. "Yeah we don't start working again for another week."

I smile at them and skip over to the couch. I plop down and look at them. "I know. But I had something exciting to tell you." I rest my head on my left hand, letting the ring to show.

They both stare at me expectantly, waiting for me to tell them. "Well what is it…?" Kelly trails off when I wave my hand and she sees the ring. She squeals in excitement and runs over, grabbing my hand to look at the ring. "No way!"

Kelly twists my hand around, trying to get a good look at the ring. "I can't believe you're going to get married!"

"What?" my uncle finally says, breaking out of his shock. "You're marrying the monkey dog?"

"Yes, I am marrying _James_," I say as I look over at him. I try reading his emotions, but I can't tell if he's mad or what.

Gustavo starts pacing in front of me. "Lauren, I've been working with the dogs for almost three years now. James is one of the most conceited, dumbest people I know."

"No he's not-"

He holds a hand up to stop me before he continues. "But, ever since you two have been together, I've seen a huge change in him. For once he cares about someone other than himself."

Gustavo pauses and looks over at me smiling, "I can tell that he loves you."

"So you're not mad about us being engaged?" I ask him tentatively.

"No I guess not." He sighs and I go over to him and hug him. "You always have been my favorite niece."

"I'm your only niece."

"Exactly," I step back and see my uncle surprisingly smiling. "Boy, the media is just going to love this."

"When are you planning on making an announcement to the media?" Kelly asks me, in business mode again. It is her job to make sure everything goes well with us and we have a good image.

"I have no idea. James and I haven't talked about that. Maybe we can get an interview with Ryan Seacrest? Or someone else really popular?"

"On it." Kelly writes something down on her clipboard before looking back up at me. "You have told your parents, right?"

The look on my face must tell her that I haven't. I've been putting it off because I have no idea how they will react.

Kelly sighs before handing me her phone. "Call her. Now."

I frown as I dial the number and wait while it rings. After three rings, she picks up the phone. "Hi, mom."

"Oh Lauren, how are you? I've been meaning to call you but I've been so busy lately with this movie I'm filming right now."

"That's fine, mom. Nothing I'm not used to." I roll my eyes as I walk around the room. "Why did you want to call me?"

"Well there's this boy I'm working with on this movie. Total catch. I've been telling him all about you."

"Mom-" I try to interrupt her but she continues talking.

"And he totally seems interested in you. So I figured sometime in the next couple of weeks you can fly over to where we're filming."

"Mom," I say and finally get her to pause. "Are you trying to set me up with this guy?"

"Well I wouldn't say that exactly…" she says and I know she's trying to avoid admitting it.

"I'm dating James," I say, stating the obvious.

"I know but not for long after you meet Dan."

My mom starts rambling more about him, and I have to speak over her. "We're getting married!"

I hear nothing from my mom. "You're…what?"

"You heard me. James and I are getting married."

"Um, aren't you a bit young to get married?" she asks and I can tell I've left her at a loss for words.

"No. You and dad were my age when you got married."

"Times have changed, honey-"

"Didn't you always tell me when I was a little girl," I interrupt her. "That when you love someone, it doesn't matter what age you are? Because it seems like you're contradicting yourself right now."

"I just think you're rushing into things. Don't you think you should wait a few years?"

"So you're not supporting my decision," I state, not asking her, because it's obvious what her opinion is.

"I didn't say that, Lauren," she replies, getting slightly annoyed.

"You didn't have to. If you're not going to support me, don't even bother showing up to the wedding."

"Lauren, wait-" I end the call before she continued.

I sit down on the couch, frustrated, and put my face in my hands. "I hate her," I say to myself.

I feel someone sit next to me but I don't look. The person places a hand on my shoulder and I realize it's Kelly. "Lauren, I'm sure she just means the best for you."

"It didn't seem like it."

"Lauren, she'll come to her senses eventually," Gustavo says hesitantly.

I look up at him, knowing he's never been good at comforting others. "I don't want them to go to the wedding."

"Well who's going to walk you down the aisle then?"

I look at my uncle and smile at him. "Will you?"

He sighs but I can see him start to smile. "Of course I will. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

~BTR~

I knock on the door to the guys' apartment and the door opens a couple seconds later and I see Katie standing there. "Hey, Lauren," she says before walking back over to the table where she's sitting on her laptop."

I walk in and go over to the kitchen where Mama Knight is cooking. She pauses so she can hug me. "I'm just so happy for you two."

"Thank you so much. It means so much that you're happy." I smile at her before sitting down at one of the stools at the counter. "You really have been like a mother to me while I've been here."

"I love being a mom for the guys and you. It's just something I like to do."

She puts the food on plates before yelling to the guys. "Boys, dinner's ready!"

I grab my plate and walk over to the table when I hear them running towards the kitchen so I don't get trampled by them. Carlos is the first one in the room and shouts when he sees me and hugs me tightly before grabbing his food.

"Carlos, you know I've been back for a few days. You act like I've just gotten back from vacation."

He shrugs as he sits in the spot next to me.

James walks over before getting his plate to kiss me first. He ends up being the last one to get his food and when he turns back to the table, he finds that both spots next to me are taken by Kendall and Carlos. "Hey, don't I get to sit next to my fiancée?"

"Oh just sit down," Logan says a bit annoyed with James. "You'll be spending plenty of time with her in a few months after you're married."

"Wow that sounds so weird," Kendall says around the food in his mouth. His mom gives him a look and he finishes chewing before continuing. "I can't believe two of my best friends are getting married."

"It still hasn't sunk in yet for me either," I say and look over at James. "But I'm so happy about it."

"Lauren, have you and James thought of when you want to have the wedding and where?" Mama Knight curiously asks. "You should probably plan that soon."

"I was thinking maybe in August or September?" I say looking over at James.

"That could work. And it gives us seven or eight months to plan everything."

Carlos suddenly drops his fork down and stares at James. "Can I be your best man?"

I laugh at James' slightly panicked look as he glances at Logan and Kendall. I knew they would be fine with Carlos being the best man; we had talked about it and they figured James would choose him. They've just always been closer.

"Would you guys be okay with that?" James asks Logan and Kendall.

They smile over at him. "Yeah man," Kendall says and pats him on the back.

"We already figured you would pick him, so we're cool with it," Logan adds.

Carlos cheers in excitement and we all laugh lightly at him.

"So I'm assuming Rachel's going to be your maid of honor?" Kendall asks me, but the answer is pretty obvious.

"Of course." I stand up to take my plate over to the sink and continue as I'm walking. "I'm pretty sure she would kill me if I didn't ask her."

"No killing the future Mrs. Diamond," James walks over to put his plate in the sink and leans in to kiss me quickly. He turns back to the guys after. "So, video game time?"

The guys all cheer in excitement and run over to the couch. Kendall starts getting the game ready as Logan and Carlos argue over which controller they get.

We walk over, James having his arm around me. Sitting down, I cuddle next to him, feeling relaxed in his arms. "So I never got a chance to ask earlier, how was telling Gustavo and Kelly?"

"It went surprisingly well. Kelly was super excited for me."

"And?" He presses on, wanting to know my uncle's reaction.

"And my uncle surprisingly wasn't mad. I think he might actually be happy for me."

James looks at me for a few seconds. "You're not telling me something that happened."

I sigh as I lean my head on his shoulder. I play with the ring as I start explaining. "Kelly made me call my mom to tell her."

"What did she say?"

"Well after I finally got to tell her with her insisting I dump you for some guy she's filming with, she was really shocked. She thinks we're too young and pretty much doesn't support my decision to marry you."

James holds me closer to him and kisses the top of my head. "I'm sorry, Lauren. I know you don't get along too well with your parents. But you're still inviting them, right?"

"Nope."

Carlos suddenly butts into the conversation. "Then who's going to walk you down the aisle?"

"I asked my uncle," I say smiling. The guys all have a range of reactions, mostly being shocked. "He actually seemed more than happy to do it."

"Well I'm glad something worked out right," James responds to me before kissing me again. "I told my mom today. I had to convince her not to get on a flight right then to come out her."

"Was she mad?" I ask concerned, not wanting to have my future mother-in-law hate me before we even met.

"At me, yes. At you, no. I think she was more upset that I hadn't told her I was going to propose beforehand."

"Oh," I say and stare at the TV for a couple seconds. "Well she should come visit soon."

"Believe me, she's planning on it."

I turn to look up at him. "Should I be afraid?"

"Very," he replies with a smirk.

We sit and talk for a bit watching the guys play their game. I stay cuddled next to him, thinking about how I'll be able to sit with him like this for the rest of my life.

"Oh I just remembered, Kelly is going to get us an interview with someone really big to announce that we're engaged." I turn to look up at him. "As long as that's fine with you?"

"Well we have to announce it sometime soon, or else it will leak somehow. We should probably have some details like the date planned out, because they'll probably ask."

"You are so smart," I say and lean up to kiss him. I break about when I hear Logan yelling at Carlos over the game.

Mrs. Knight walks back out to break them up. "Alright, that's enough video games. Go to bed now or something." She turns around and heads back into her room.

"Hey, stay the night with me?" James asks as we stand up from the couch.

"If it's alright with Mama Knight."

He looks down at the ground and slightly smiles, rubbing the back of his neck. "I kind of already asked her if it would be okay. And she said it's fine, seeing as we'll be married soon enough."

"Hey, that didn't stop us before," I say and wink at him, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"Can you guys sleep out here? I don't want to deal with you two being all lovey dovey when I'm trying to sleep," Carlos asks before he heads to his room.

I shrug and look at James. "It's fine with me. And are you just jealous Carlos because you're lonely?" I tease him lightly.

"No," he says but I can see a light blush on his cheeks. "I'm going to bed now. Goodnight, guys."

We say goodnight and then lay down on the couch. James immediately puts his arms around me and I lay across his chest. "I can definitely get used to this."

"Well we're going to have a lot of time together." James leans down to kiss the top of my head.

I can feel my eyes closing as I start to fall asleep, suddenly really tired. "Goodnight Lauren. I love you."

"I love you too, James," I whisper as I fall asleep, sleeping comfortably in his arms.

**Sorry I haven't updated in forever! I've just had so much going on, with prom, boy issues, my friend now hating me, and then exams. But I'm done with school now so hopefully I'll be able to write more often. Depends on how often I'm working.**

**Thank you for sticking with this story despite me not writing a new part in forever and a half. So there will probably be only 3-5 chapters left in this story. It's hard to believe that it's so close to being over. But I have an idea for a sequel, so if people are interested, I'll write that eventually :)**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28:**

"Hello to all the listeners out there," Ryan Seacrest starts to say on his radio show. "I'm currently sitting here with Lauren Rocque and James Diamond who have some big news to give. But we'll get to that eventually. We're first going to get caught up on things."

"So it's great to have you guys here."

I smile at him before replying. "Thanks Ryan, it's always an honor to be interviewed by you."

"In case you listeners didn't know, Big Time Rush and Lauren just went on a world tour together. How was that?"

James and I glance at each other before laughing. "Absolutely insane," James answers.

"Care to elaborate on that?" Ryan asks us.

"Well it involved being kidnapped by an evil villain," I begin.

"Meeting secret agents and having to save the world," James adds.

"Then getting to our concert, and that was all before the first show."

Ryan gives us a look like he doesn't quite believe us, but he continues on. "I remember seeing videos of you two from that first concert when you sang together. It was very cute. Alright we'll be right back after this song, Lauren do you want to introduce it?"

"Hey guys, this is Sparks Fly," I say before Ryan starts the music playing and the microphones turn off.

"So I'm really curious about what you guys have to announce. When your manager called and said it was important news, I was immediately curious."

"It is very exciting, and I hope everyone will be just as excited about it as we are," James says then looks at me smiling.

I smile back at him before getting out my phone, keeping my left hand hidden so Ryan doesn't find out just yet. I get on twitter and tweet the link to where people can listen to the interview, just so more people can find out right away when we announce it.

I put my phone away just as the song is ending and Ryan starts talking again. "Alright we are back. Now James, what have you and Big Time Rush been up to now that you're back from tour?"

"Well we've just been having a few weeks off, since Gustavo needed some time away from us after being with us on tour for two and a half months. But next week we get back to the studio, and maybe we'll start making some new music?"

"I'm sure I speak for most people when I say I really hope you and the guys will have a third album."

"I agree too!" I say, stopping Ryan from continuing on.

"Are you a big fan of theirs?"

"Oh yeah," I say as James nods his head next to me. "I've loved them since the beginning."

"She even has a life-sized cardboard cut-out of us in her apartment. It's a bit creepy," James jokingly says.

I smack him lightly on the arm. "I got that because I thought it would be funny to have since you guys are my friends. Not because I'm a stalker fan."

"Well I guess it's a good thing that you're a fan of their music. Otherwise that could make things awkward in your relationship." Ryan pauses before continuing. "So Lauren, what are you going to be up to?"

"Well I have to finish things for my album and then I'll do some photo shoots and whatnot for that. Then do some promotions for it."

"Maybe a tour?"

"I don't know, we'll have to see about that. It may have to wait a bit, but it's all up to my uncle."

"Okay we're going to take a quick break and then we'll be back to find out James and Lauren's big news. Stay tuned."

As the next song starts playing, I turn to James. He grabs my left hand and holds it, smiling at me. "Are you nervous?"

"A bit. I'm just worried people aren't going to accept it."

"Do you want me to do most of the talking?"

I nod my head and smile.

"Oh my god, you're pregnant, aren't you?" Ryan suddenly says.

"What?" I ask in confusion.

"You're pregnant, and that's the big news you need to announce, isn't it?"

"No, absolutely not." I reply annoyed that he would assume this.

"Well why would you be nervous about the announcement?" Ryan asks tentatively, avoiding looking me in the eyes as I glare at him.

"Because it's something big, but you'll find out exactly what that is in just a moment," James says to him harshly as the song playing ends and Ryan starts talking again.

"Alright guys, the moment we've been waiting for is here. James, Lauren, take it away."

"Well, Lauren and I are very much in love," James begins and I smile at him. "So last week when we were on vacation together, I decided to make a big move."

"And that would be?" Ryan presses, wanting to know.

"He proposed to me," I say and lift up my hand, showing the diamond ring.

"Wow congrats, that's great," Ryan says and smiles at us. "You've heard it here first everyone, James Diamond of Big Time Rush and Lauren Rocque are getting married."

"So any idea when you'll have the wedding?"

"Actually, we've already picked a date. We're going to have it August 23rd," I reply to him and James kisses me on the cheek.

"I better be getting an invite to this," he jokingly says.

James and I both laugh at this. "Of course, Ryan. Who else would then be able to tell everyone what happens?"

"Well I wish you both the best of luck with what's to come. I hope for your sakes that you have people who are going to help you plan this."

"Thank you, Ryan." He gets ready to move onto a song, but I stop him first. "I just wanted to say, that I really want to know all of the fan's opinions. So tweet me, I'll be reading almost all of my mentions tonight and I'll try to respond to as many people as I can."

"That's very kind of you, Lauren. Thank you guys for joining me today. I'm honored that you made this announcement today with me."

He starts a song playing and we stand up to go. I hug him before we leave, then turn to James and grab his hand. "Alright let's get back home."

~BTR~

I barely walk through the door of the Palmwoods before I get attacked by a hug. "Lauren, you're getting married!" Camille shouts as she squeezes me.

"Yeah, I am," I reply and look over to see Lucy walking towards us, smiling at me. "Camille, I kind of can't breathe."

"Sorry," she says as she lets me go. "I'm just so excited for you."

"Hey, Lauren?" James says quietly and I turn to him. "I'm going to head up to the room. You go talk to the girls about things. I'll see you later."

"Bye, James. I love you," I say and lean up to kiss him lightly.

"Love you too," he says when he pulls away. He smiles at me before heading over to the elevator.

I turn back to the girls, smiling. "Let's go sit by the pool."

We go out by the pool and Lucy leads us to the table they had been sitting at. "I'm happy for you two."

Camille nods her head in agreement with Lucy. "You two are so perfect together."

"Thanks, guys."

I hear someone shout my name and turn to the lobby to see Rachel walking over. She joins us at the table.

"I'm actually glad you're here, Rachel. I have something important to ask all three of you." I pause and smile at each of them. "Will you be my bridesmaids?"

"Of course!" Camille shouts.

"Yeah definitely," Lucy says with a smile.

"As long as I'm the maid of honor," Rachel says stubbornly.

"Rachel, did you really expect me not to have you be my maid of honor? We've been best friends since before we were one."

"Yeah I suppose your right." Rachel suddenly gasps in excitement. "We need a shopping trip. Most definitely need a trip to New York."

"Why?" Lucy asks curiously.

"So we can go to Kleinfelds," Rachel states like it's obvious. "They have the best wedding dresses. And we can get our bridesmaids dresses while we're there, too."

"It sounds like a good plan. We should spend a weekend in New York!" I say excitedly.

"Yes! I've always wanted to go there," Camille says as she's bouncing in her seat out of excitement.

"And we can totally have your bachelorette party while we're there." Rachel looks at me expectantly, waiting for my opinion.

"Let's do it."

**Woo next chapter already! :D so yay, they announced it. I'm thinking there will be maybe 2 chapters left before the wedding. And then I'll have two chapters for that. Then the story will be over. But I think I will eventually write a sequel to it, I just love this story so much.**

**So let me know what you think :) hopefully you liked this chapter!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29:**

"I'm going to miss you," I say as I hold onto James in a tight hug. Standing outside of the airport, the guys sit in a car waiting for James. The girls are standing behind me waiting for me.

"Me too. But it's just for a long weekend. You're going to have so much fun in New York. I mean, you're having your bachelorette party."

"And dress shopping," I add. "That could be a nightmare with opinions from six different people."

"Lauren, we have to get going," Rachel gently says to me, not wanting to break up the moment we're having.

I sigh and pull away from James. "You go have a fun weekend in Vegas with the boys. Don't spend too much money at the casinos and don't get too drunk."

"Alright, mom," James jokingly says before laughing. "And you go have a fun weekend in New York."

"I love you," I say before leaning up to kiss him.

"I love you too," he whispers against my lips before pulling away. He walks over to the car and turns around to smile and wave before he gets in and closes the door.

As the car drives away, I turn to Rachel, Camille, Lucy, and the Jennifers. "Alright let's go have a weekend in New York."

We all head in and go to the security check-in. I end up walking next to Rachel who explains our plans for the day. "Okay so when we get there, we'll have time to go get lunch somewhere before you're appointment at Kleinfelds. After you hopefully find your wedding dress, we're going to look for bridesmaids dresses. And then we have your bachelorette party."

"And I'm guessing tomorrow is just for recovery and walking around the city?" I ask her as I hand the security officer my ticket and passport.

"Pretty much," Rachel replies as we pass through the scans.

Once everyone gets through security check-in, we all split up into groups to walk around before our flight leaves. I grab a coffee and walk into one of the shops and scan over the magazines, wanting to get a couple to read on the flight. Most seem boring until one headline catches my attention, especially seeing a picture of James and I on the cover.

'Too young or just right?' the cover says. I pick it up and walk over to the counter to pay for it, kind of curious to see what it says. The cashier gives me a confused look as he glances from the magazine up to me, but I leave before he can say anything.

I head over to the gate and sit down, knowing everyone will find me later. I flip to the article about me and start reading.

_A big time wedding is going to happen soon. James Diamond of the popular boyband Big Time Rush appears to be leaving his flirtatious ways behind him as he gets ready to tie the knot in five months. To who? Only one of the biggest stars on the rise, Lauren Rocque. Even with her famous background (parents Dave and Scarlet Rocque, uncle Gustavo Rocque), she is working on making a name for herself on her own with acting and her music._

_But are they too young to be getting married? Being only 18 each, one would think so. But others could argue that age doesn't matter when you truly love someone. In the time they have been dating, James and Lauren have gone through quite a bit together. One can easily see how much they love each other by looking at them. So was it really that big of a shock when they announced their engagement last month? Not really._

_The wedding is set for August 23__rd__. What celebrities will nab invites to the most exciting wedding of the year? What will Lauren's dress look like? These questions will have to wait. But I wish James and Lauren the best of luck with marriage._

I set the magazine and look up, not having realized Camille and Lucy were sitting across from me. "What were you reading about?" Camille asks curiously.

"About my wedding. If people think we're too young." I glance back down at the magazine and think about the article. Are we really too young?

"That's ridiculous, who cares?" Lucy says and I look back up. "It doesn't matter your age. You love him, right?"

"Of course."

"Then who cares how old you are."

An announcement comes on that our flight is about to board just as Rachel and the Jennifers get to the gate. "Alright let's go have some fun."

~BTR~

I start walking through the selection of dresses, being led by the sales associate Brenda that's helping me today. We start looking through the ballgown dresses, grabbing a few that I liked. But none of them quite stood out. "I guess this will do for now," I say as we start walking to the dressing room.

I scan over the dresses as we make our way through to the dressing room and my eyes land on one dress. I stop and stare at it, knowing that even though it wasn't a ballgown like I was thinking of getting, it's still the perfect dress. "That's the one," I say and walk up to it.

"You think so?" Brenda asks me and I nod. "Alright I'll grab it. But you should still try the other dresses on just to be sure."

We get to the dressing room and I try the three ballgowns on and show the girls, but I know they're not right for me.

I finally step into the dress and as Brenda zips it up, I look in the mirror and am left speechless. The tight bodice fits perfectly until my knees where it then poofs out in a mermaid style. Light beading all over it adds to the dress without making it too much.

"It's perfect," I finally say.

"Let's go show everyone."

We walk out and head to where everyone is sitting. I can't help but smile as I walk towards them, thinking about wearing this dress down the aisle towards James in a few months.

"Lauren, you look absolutely beautiful!" I hear Rachel shout when she sees me wearing the dress.

"What do you guys think?" I ask them all as I turn so they can see the full dress.

They all respond, saying it's beautiful or perfect.

"This is the dress," I say confidently as I glance in the mirror again.

"We found the dress?" Brenda asks me to confirm.

"Yes we did," I reply happily and the girls all cheer in excitement.

I take one last glance in the mirror before heading back to the dressing room to change out of the dress. Once I'm done, Brenda takes me to pay for the dress and make an appointment for alterations.

After finishing the payment, I head back to the girls. "Alright let's go find your bridesmaids dresses."

It takes a little while for Rachel, Camille, and Lucy to finally find a dress they all agree on and then we finally leave the shop.

"Alright, what now, Rachel?"

"Now we head to your party, Lauren," she responds with a smirk. She gestures to a limo out front and we get in. The driver starts heading to wherever Rachel planned the party.

"Should I be afraid for what's going to happen?"

Rachel scoffs at me. "What would make you think that?"

"You're smirking. I know when you're up to something."

"Oh look, we're here!" Rachel says while pointing outside, avoiding answering me. "Let's go everyone!"

All of us get out of the limo and walk into the building. As soon as we enter, I see a bunch of guys wearing barely any clothes. "You did not get strippers."

Rachel shrugs her shoulders at me. "Hey it's your bachelorette party. Besides, it's the last time you'll be able to do this before you're married to James."

Blonde Jennifer pushes me towards one of the strippers and I land in his arms. I step back from him and laugh. "I hate you girls so much."

The girls all join in laughing. "We know you love us," Rachel says with a smile.

**So I feel like this chapter was kind of boring, but it's necessary. But on a sad note, I've decided that the next chapter is going to be the last one :( but it's going to be one monster of a chapter because I have so much planned for it. You've probably already realized that the last chapter will be the wedding. Let me just say it's going to be very cute and emotional :)**

**I'm kind of sad that this story is almost over. I've been writing this since October last year. Nine months of this story and it's nearly over. It really is my baby, I've never written this much for a story. But I'm really thinking about writing a sequel for it, if people are interested and would read one.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30:**

"How are you feeling, Lauren?" Rachel asks me as she fixes my hair, making sure it looks perfect.

"I don't know. Incredibly happy, nervous, worried. All at the same time."

I hear her sigh and I look up at her in the mirror to see her smiling lightly at me. "Lauren, everything is going to be fine. I can understand you being nervous, but you love James and he loves you. You're both going to be so happy. And there's no need to be worried. If something goes wrong, oh well. We'll just continue on with the wedding."

Rachel pauses to fix one last thing with my hair. "There, you're ready."

"Not quite yet," I hear someone say who I haven't heard in forever.

"Mom?" I ask in disbelief as I turn around to look at the doorway. Sure enough, she's standing right there, smiling at me. "How are you- Why? What…?"

"Did you really think I would miss my baby girl's wedding?" She asks as she walks in and hugs me. As she steps back, she takes a good look at me. "You look so beautiful."

"I-I'm so confused. Why are you here?"

My mom sighs like she knew I would ask this. "Well a little birdy gave me an invitation." I look over at Rachel and she's looking down at the ground guiltily. "Your dad couldn't make it to the ceremony. He tried to, but they're really pressed for time filming and the producers wouldn't let him leave."

"Oh," I say slightly disappointed, because I had been hoping that my daddy would be here since I saw my mom.

"I brought you something, honey," she says and pulls out a jewelry box from her purse. She opens it to reveal a diamond necklace. "I want you to wear it."

"Why?" I ask her curiously.

"This necklace has a lot of importance to me. Your father gave it to me before the first Academy Awards where I was nominated. I was wearing that when I won my first Oscar. And I want you to wear it, just so you'll have something from your mom and dad on your big day."

As she replaces the necklace I'm already wearing with the one she brought me, I can't help but smile. It's been so long since I've seen my mom, and for her to do something like this, it means so much.

"Thank you," I whisper as I hug her.

When we pull apart, my mom smiles at me proudly. "You have grown into such a beautiful young woman."

The door suddenly opens and Kendall and Logan walk in. "Wow, Lauren, you look so pretty," Kendall says when he sees me before hugging me.

"James sure is a lucky guy to be marrying you," Logan adds and hugs me too.

"Thanks guys. Where's Carlos?" I ask and Kendall laughs lightly.

"He's currently calming down your future husband, who is imagining the worst possible scenarios," Logan explains with a roll of his eyes. "Like you would really leave him standing at the altar and not show up."

"I have to go see him," I say and stand up to walk out of the room.

"No!" Everyone but my mom shouts.

"Oh, yeah, that stupid tradition that the groom can't see the bride." I slump back in my chair, upset about not being able to comfort James.

Rachel places a hand on my shoulder and I look up at her. "I'll go make sure he's okay for you."

"Thanks, Rachel," I smile at her before she exits.

Right after Rachel leaves, my mom clears her throat and I look over at her. She raises her eyebrows at me and nods her head towards the guys.

"Oh guys, so this is my mom," I say, remembering I haven't introduced them yet. I gesture to her before continuing. "Mom, this is Kendall and Logan." I point to each of them as I say their name.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Rocque," Kendall says as my mom shakes both of their hands.

"Please, call me Scarlet. It makes me feel old when people call me Mrs. Rocque." I roll my eyes at this but she doesn't see. "So you two are in my brother-in-law's band, right?"

"Yep," Kendall replies happily while I just stare at my mom in astonishment for actually knowing about the band.

"It was actually because of James that the band was started," Logan says and glances over at Kendall, before both of them start laughing, surely recalling the craziness that happened at their auditions.

"I'll have to hear that story someday when we have more time," my mom says to them while smiling.

I'm still staring at my mom in shock, partly over her knowing about Big Time Rush. But also because she's making a genuine effort to get along with the guys, who are practically me brothers.

She glances over at me and smiles before shrugging her shoulders. "What, I did some research. Since James is going to be part of this family, I wanted to know a bit about him."

Never has my mom done something so sweet for me like this, accepting James. I walk over to her and hug her tightly. "Thank you, mom," I whisper just so she can hear, as she pats my back soothingly.

The door opens and I step away from my mom to see Rachel, Camille, and Lucy walk in, hair and make up all done and ready to go. "Kelly said you guys need to go get ready to walk out," Rachel says before pushing them towards the door.

Kendall pauses in the doorway to say, "Bye Lauren!"

Logan pushes him out of the way before turning towards me. "Good luck, Lauren. And seriously, you look beautiful."

I turn to the girls as the door closes. "Are you ready to become Mrs. Diamond?" Camille asks with a smile.

It was a harmless question, but panic and nervousness starts setting in as I realize just what is about to happen in mere minutes.

"I better get going," my mom says and starts walking towards the door.

"Mommy, don't leave yet," I say while looking at her, begging her to stay.

She sighs and nods her head to the girls, and they quietly leave the room as she walks over to me. I hug her tightly and she holds me as she tries to comfort me.

"Mom, I'm scared," I whisper against her shoulder.

"Honey, you have no reason to be. You both love each other. Nothing else matters." She steps back slightly and makes me look at her. "I promise you everything will be perfectly fine. This is going to be the greatest day of your life."

I nod my head, starting to get over my panic. The door suddenly bangs open and I jump, and so does my mom. "Scarlet!" I hear the booming voice of my uncle yell before he picks her up in a hug.

"Gus, what are you doing?" She asks him while laughing.

His face scrunches at her nickname for him and he sets her down. "Must you always call me that?"

"Yes, especially since you just interrupted a mother-daughter moment."

Gustavo glances over at me, seeming to have forgotten I was there. "Oh sorry. But it's just about time to walk her down the aisle. I am still doing that, right? Dave isn't around here ready to brag about his successful films?"

I scoff at him as my mom laughs. "No, he couldn't make it to the ceremony. So you'll still be walking Lauren down."

"That's fine, but Scarlet, you really need to go now. They want to have the dogs go stand at the altar."

"He's talking about James and the guys," I clarify when I see my mom's confused face.

"Okay. You'll be great, Lauren. You've turned out to be such a beautiful young woman." She hugs me one last time before leaving, turning in the doorway to smile at me.

I turn to my uncle, knowing we have to get going soon. "Well are you ready?" I ask him.

"I'm ready. But the question is, are you ready to rock one last time?"

I stare at him for a couple seconds before we both start laughing over his horrible pun. "That had to be the worst joke you have ever made."

"I know, but I got you laughing." He holds his arm out to me and I loop mine through his. "You ready?"

I take a deep breath and smile at him. "Yes, I definitely am."

"Are you sure you can handle spending the rest of your life with that monkey dog?"

"Yes!" I say and laugh at him. "And you do realize that you're going to be related to that 'monkey dog' in less than an hour, right?"

His face drops in realization and I laugh lightly. "Whatever. I hope you know that if he ever does anything wrong to you, he's getting kicked out of the band."

Gustavo opens the door and glances down the hallway before leading me out and heading towards the ornate doors that lead outside to the garden where the ceremony is being held. Rachel found this great country club just outside of Los Angeles, so we decided to have it here, just so it would be farther away from paparazzi.

"I know you wouldn't kick him out of the band. Just admit it, you like him," I say before I'm stopped by Kelly and the girls, just before turning into the room leading outside.

"Sorry you can't go in there, James and the guys are there. But they're heading outside shortly." Kelly looks over my dress before smiling. "You look great, Lauren."

"Thanks, Kelly."

"They're walking out," Rachel says as she's looking around the corner of the doorway. She leans back and looks at me smiling. "Here's your bouquet," she says before handing me the bouquet of red and white roses. "You're going to be fine."

Kelly motions for Camille and Lucy to start walking out, and Rachel follows shortly after, smiling at me one last time before the ceremony starts.

"Let's do this, L-dog," my uncle says before we start walking into the next room.

I take a deep breath as we step outside when the flourish of music gives us our queue. I watch the ground as we walk down the steps right outside the door. When we get to the ground, I look up down the aisle to see James standing there.

The sun shines down on James from behind him, turning his hair a coppery color. He's smiling as I walk towards him, and it's the happiest I've ever seen him. Happier than when he found out their second album went platinum or when I forgave him after our break up.

I smile at him as my uncle walks me down the aisle. I probably look silly for smiling so much, but I can't help it when the most handsome man is waiting for me and will soon be mine. As I walk down, I briefly notice all of my friends and family here, and Rachel, Camille, Lucy, and the guys standing near James.

After what seems like forever, we get to the altar and I smile up at James as Gustavo hands me off to him. I glance at my uncle as he sits next to my mom and see him discretely wipe a tear away as my mom puts an arm around him.

The priest welcomes everyone and starts talking about marriage and love. I half listen as I look up at James, knowing that he loves me from the look in his eyes. "I love you," I whisper to him with a smile.

"I love you," he whispers back and I blush and smile up at him.

It gets to the point in the ceremony where we say our vows and James goes first, taking my hands in his. "Lauren, I love you. I have since we first met and I will forever. When we first met, I knew I wanted you to be my girlfriend. And so did three other certain guys." Kendall, Logan, and Carlos all laugh lightly at this before James continues.

"But as I got to know you, I realized you were different than any other girl I met. I wanted to have a long relationship with you, not just some fling. At first, I thought you totally liked Carlos, you were hanging out with him so often. Now I realize how stupid that was to think," he chuckles lightly at this and I can't help but laugh a bit with him.

"So then I finally got a chance to tell you how I felt at our combined birthday party. Who would have thought I would start dating my future wife while playing a silly party game in a closet? But miraculously, you somehow thought I was good enough to call yours."

"I know we've had our ups and downs in this relationship. It took being in a car accident to realize just how much I love you. And then I stupidly went and lost you… but for some reason, you decided to forgive me. Then you got kidnapped by an evil villain on our tour and I had to save you."

James pauses to look at me for a couple seconds, smiling. "Lauren, you have changed my life so much. I now have someone I care about more than myself, and I will spend every day of the rest of my life making sure you know just how much I love you."

I can't help the few tears that escape as James finishes his vows. I take a deep breath before I start mine, collecting my thoughts. "James, every day I remind myself of how lucky I am to be with you. I know that there are millions of girls who wish they were dating you, yet for some reason you want to be with me."

"When I first met you, all I knew was the rumors. But you've proved them all wrong. You are the most romantic person I know, always finding some way to show me your love. Like singing to me and the scavenger hunt when we broke up briefly, or saving me in London and then singing Sparks Fly with me at the first concert."

"There is no one else who I would want to spend the rest of my life with. I love you."

The priest looks at James before asking him, "James David Diamond, do you take Lauren to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," he answers confidently before looking at me and smiling.

"Lauren Ann Rocque, do you take James to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," I say without hesitating. There is no one else I would rather want to be with.

The priest has us exchange the rings and we take each others hands again. "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

"Finally," I say quietly as I put my arms around James' neck and he laughs lightly. I stand on my tiptoes as he leans down and we finally kiss. I feel him smile in the kiss and smile as well. All too soon he pulls away, leaning his forehead against mine.

I step back and grab his hand as we turn to face everyone. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mr. and Mrs. Diamond."

I smile at all of my family and friends clapping that came here for James and I. James squeezes my hand lightly and I look up to see him smiling down at me. Before we walk back down the aisle together, Rachel hands me my bouquet.

As I walk back with my new husband, I turn up to smile at James. Nothing could compare to how happy I am to know that James is mine for the rest of my life.

Before we enter the building again, James leans down to kiss me. The kiss is full of emotion, and just perfect.

James holds the door open for me and we walk inside and see Kelly waiting for us. She leads us to a room for us to wait in while all of the guests get situated in the room for the reception.

I lean against James as we wait, his arms around me. I watch Rachel and Carlos talking animatedly to each other for a while before looking up at James. "How much do you want to bet that Rachel and Carlos are going to end up marrying each other someday?"

He looks at them for a few seconds before leaning down and kissing me lightly on the cheek. "I'm not going to make that bet, because it's obvious that you're right."

"I just wish they would start dating already."

"I think they both just don't realize what's right in front of them." James pauses to nod his head over towards Logan and Camille. "I mean, look at them. It took forever for them to realize that they love each other."

"I'm just glad I never have to go through that again," I say as I lean my head against his shoulder.

"No you don't, Mrs. Diamond."

"I love the sound of that," I say as the door opens and Kelly walks in.

"Hey guys, it's time to go, everyone is waiting to have dinner."

I stand up and hold out a hand for James, smiling as I help him up. Right away he puts an arm around my waist and holds me close to him, showing that I'm only his.

We leave the room, following everyone towards the banquet room of the country club. The dj announces first Logan and Camille, followed by Kendall and Lucy, then Carlos and Rachel as the best man and maid of honor.

It gets to be our turn to walk in and I grab James' hand as the dj says, "Ladies and gentlemen, I present Mr. and Mrs. James Diamond."

We enter the room to applause from all of our family and friends. I smile at everyone, showing my appreciation for them being there. James then leads me over to the small table set at the front of the room for us. Sitting directly to our right are Rachel, Lucy, Camille, and the guys. To our left are our family and close friends.

A waiter serves us our dinner and I move my chair closer to James so I can lean against him. I start eating my food as James starts talking to me. "You know, now that we're married, we're going to get this fantastic house in a real nice neighborhood. And it'll have a pool and some extra rooms for if we have kids in a few years."

"James," I say, cutting him off before he can continue rambling on. "You make it sound like you've already bought a house."

He blushes and looks down while rubbing the back of his neck. "I may have kind of bought us a house already."

My jaw drops open in shock at this. "You did not. Why didn't you wait for me to help?"

"You wouldn't let me help pay for the wedding at all, so I wanted to do this for you. It's kind of like a wedding gift to you from me. You should get used to getting lots of gifts, because I'm going to shower you in love." James pauses and looks at me like he's trying to read my emotions. "You're not mad, are you?"

I smile at him before leaning over to kiss him on the cheek. When I pull away, I keep a hand on his cheek. "How could I be mad when I'm now married to the sweetest guy ever?"

I hear someone say 'aww' from the table to our right and I glance over to see Rachel smiling. "If you two lovebirds are done eating, you should go talk to everyone here before we eat cake. You know, thank them for coming and whatnot."

I turn towards James and shrug my shoulders. "I'm all done eating, but if you're not, I'll wait for you."

"No, I'm good. Do you want to go talk to our families first?" I nod and we stand up and head over to the table to the left of ours.

For a while we visit each of the tables, talking to everyone. It turns out that our mothers are getting along really well, with Brooke wanting my mom to model for one of her new cosmetics lines.

A large variety of celebrities are in attendance, such as Katy Perry and Justin Bieber, and Johnny Depp and Leonardo Dicaprio. A lot of our friends from the Palmwoods are there and it's great to see them after having been so busy planning the wedding lately. Even some of my friends from filming the Hunger Games have made it, and I spend some time getting caught up with them.

Eventually Rachel tries waving me over so I can cut the cake with James. I look around for James and find him with his mom who is fussing over his hair. I can't help but snicker at this as I make my way across the room. Clearly James gets his love for looking perfect from his mom.

"Brooke, his hair already looks flawless," I say when I get to them.

"Of course it does, because I just fixed it." She smiles at me before continuing. "I'm still not happy that James never let me meet you before the wedding."

"Because you would have scared her away," he mumbles quietly and I start laughing but turn it into a cough when his mom gives me a weird look.

James loops his fingers through mine before smiling at me. "So what's up?"

"It is time for cake," I say as I start walking backwards, pulling him along with me. We walk hand in hand over to where Rachel is now standing with Carlos. I raise an eyebrow in shock when I see Carlos' arm around her and Rachel then starts blushing.

"Okay, explain," James and I both say at the same time. We turn towards each other and both laugh lightly before looking back at Rachel and Carlos.

"Well, Carlos and I are kind of dating," Rachel finally admits.

"Kind of?" I ask her, slightly annoyed that she won't give me a direct answer.

"We are dating," Carlos clarifies before kissing Rachel on the cheek, who then blushes.

"Since when? And why didn't you say anything?" I ask them, slightly offended that my best friend didn't tell me anything.

"We've been dating since you two went on vacation," Rachel answers.

Carlos continues, "And we didn't say anything because we didn't want to take away from the excitement over your wedding by announcing that we're dating. So we figured we would wait until you were married."

"I didn't think he would mean at the reception," Rachel says before laughing lightly while Carlos looks down at the ground in embarrassment.

He turns to face her and presses his forehead against hers. "Sorry I was anxious to not have to hide anymore."

As they start kissing, James clears his throat and they pull apart, seeming to remember that we're right there. "So are you guys mad?" Rachel asks worriedly.

I glance up at James and can tell he's thinking the same as me. "Of course not. You two are our best friends. And you can't help who you fall in love with."

"Yeah I'm happy for you guys," James says and puts an arm around Carlos' shoulders. "You know, Lauren and I were just saying earlier how we were hoping you two would get together."

"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt," Kendall says as he walks up to us with Logan. "But you need to cut the cake already."

"People are getting hungry for dessert," Logan adds.

"Then let's have some cake," I say and walk over next to the cake with James. I got figurines for the top custom made so they look exactly like James and I.

Rachel and Carlos get everyone's attention so we can start having cake. Together James and I cut a piece out and put it on a plate. James takes a forkful and feeds it to me gently. I then get a piece and right before I can put the fork in James' mouth, I shove the cake on his face, getting it all over.

I smile smugly at him while everyone laughs. "I'll get you back for that," he says as he wipes off the cake from his face.

"Oh really now?" I whisper to him and raise an eyebrow at him.

"Definitely. Be prepared for payback sometime during our honeymoon." He leans in and kisses me lightly.

"You taste like cake," I say after he pulls away and I lick my lips, tasting the sugar from the cake.

James takes the plate of our cake and we walk back over to our table. Before I can sit down, he pulls me onto his lap.

"Yep so I've decided that you're going to make it up to me by doing whatever I want for one whole day on our honeymoon."

I catch the suggestive tone and wink at him before replying. "Alright then. One whole day I'll do whatever you want."

He gets a look in his eyes that shows he can't wait before he smirks and takes a bite of cake. "This is definitely going to be a great marriage."

"Mhmm," I say around a mouthful of cake. "I'm looking forward to waking up next to you everyday."

James kisses me lightly on the cheek before finishing the piece of cake. We sit together and talk about random things for a bit while everyone eats their cake.

Rachel eventually comes over and makes an announcement that it's time for our first dance together. I stand up and take James' hand as we go to the center of the dance floor.

I put my arms around James' neck as he pulls me close to him as the song Can You Feel The Love Tonight starts playing. Ever since I was a little girl, I have wanted that to be my wedding song, and it finally happened.

I rest my head on his shoulder as we slowly turn in circles. "I love you," I whisper to him.

"I love you too," he whispers back and I pick my head up to kiss him.

We pull apart and I can feel him move his hands up on my back instead of where they had been slowly drifting down. "Your uncle is staring at me so badly right now. Is he going to kill me?"

When we turn so that I can see Gustavo, I glare at him to knock it off. He turns away and I can tell he's slightly embarrassed about being caught. I sigh as I look back up at James. "Who cares. We're married now. He won't kill you because he knows I would kill him."

"Oh, that's real reassuring," he jokingly says.

"It should be." I sigh as the song comes to an end, not wanting to leave James' arms yet. "Well it's time for me to go dance with my uncle. This should be fun."

"Hey, if I have to dance with my mom, you can handle your uncle," James says to me before he starts walking towards where everyone is standing.

My uncle starts walking over and the dj starts playing the song; Gustavo made me pick one of the songs he wrote or else he wouldn't dance with me.

"Okay hold on a second," my uncle says when he gets to me and holds up his hands. The music stops playing and a different song, Butterfly Kisses, starts playing. My uncle smiles at me before turning to walk back.

It's then that I see a familiar face walking out of the crowd towards me. Someone who I haven't seen in a long time. "Daddy?"

He smiles at me and I run over the short distance to him and hug him tightly. "Hi, pumpkin," he says as he runs a hand over my hair and hugs me back.

I stay hugging him as the song continues to play, not wanting to leave his comforting embrace. "I thought you couldn't make it. Mom said you couldn't come-"

"To the ceremony." He pauses and chuckles lightly. "She didn't say anything about the reception."

"Thank you for being here," I whisper to him as I rest my head on his shoulder, just like I did as a young girl.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be here to walk you down the aisle. But I'm sure Gustavo did well with that. I guess you'll just have to get married again."

"Dad!" I say offended and lightly hit him.

He starts laughing at my reaction. "I'm joking, I'm joking!"

I shake my head at his joke and roll my eyes. He's still acting just the same as always.

We slowly turn in circles for a bit, and I listen to the song. "Hey dad, why did you pick this song?"

He sighs before answering my question. "I really do feel like I'm losing my little girl. You just grew up way too quickly into a beautiful young woman."

"But I'll always be daddy's little girl. Changing my last name won't change that."

He kisses the top of my head and I feel something wet hit my head. "Daddy, don't cry. You're going to make me start crying."

"I'm sorry, I can't help it."

The song ends and I sigh, not wanting my moment with my dad to end. As I go to walk away, he puts an arm around me and I smile at him before leaning against him. It has been way to long since I last saw him.

We walk over to my mom and she puts her arm around my waist as well. We all stand there together as James and his mother go out to dance together.

"I have to say, I approve of James. He's quite the nice guy," my mom says.

"See, and all this time you were criticizing him," I respond to her.

"I guess I was quick to judge. But I should have realized he was a good person if he was working with Gus. He would never let someone rude work with him."

"That is true," my dad adds. "Speaking of my brother, I need to go tell him how successful my last movie was."

I grab his arm and stop him from walking over. "Dad, not right now. Besides, Gustavo has been doing pretty well lately too. Both my album and the guys' second album went platinum."

"Maybe I should just get all of you into acting so he's not as successful."

"You two are so competitive," my mom says while shaking her head at my dad.

My dad shrugs his shoulders just as James is walking back over. "James, this is my dad. Dad, obviously this is my husband, James."

"It nice to meet you, Mr. Rocque," James says with a smile while shaking his hand.

"Same to you. Welcome to the family. But if you do anything to hurt my daughter, I'll make sure you never get a job here in Hollywood again."

I can tell he's joking but James doesn't and his face drops in fear and he glances over at me, silently asking me to do something.

"Dad, stop it. James, he's just joking."

James lets out a sigh of relief and my dad laughs lightly. "Don't worry, I wouldn't do that."

"Oh well I'd appreciate that. I would like to get into modeling after Big Time Rush, and possibly into some acting. It would be nice if one of the biggest directors in Hollywood didn't hate me."

"Oh I'm not that mean," my dad replies as he puts an arm around James' shoulder. "You know, I like you. I was thinking, you would be perfect for the lead in my next movie I'm planning. The character is an assassin, so there will surely be tons of action."

"I would love to, sir. But it will depend on if Gustavo will let me take time off from BTR."

"I'll talk to him about it," my dad says with a smile at James. "Now enough talking to us. You kids go have fun at your wedding."

I take James' hand and start leading him back to the dance floor where people are already dancing. "Come on, Hollywood Party King Of Hollywood. Let's go have some fun!"

"Woohoo!" He shouts as we go start dancing with all of our friends and family.

We dance around with everyone for a while but then it gets to be time for James to take the garter from my leg so I can throw my bouquet.

Carlos brings out a chair for me and sets it in the middle of the dance floor. I sit down as James walks to the edge of the floor.

The song Yeah by Usher starts playing and James starts dancing his way over to me. I can't help but laugh at him because he looks like an idiot.

He gets to where I'm sitting and dances right in front of me, turning to shake his butt in my face. I smack his butt while laughing to get him to turn around.

James turns around and kneels in front of me before lifting up my dress and holding my leg. I can't help but feel my cheeks heating up as James grabs the garter with his teeth and pulls it down my leg.

James removes it from my leg and stands up, leaning over to kiss me briefly. He grabs my hands and pulls me up as the dj calls all of the single girls to the dance floor so I can throw my bouquet.

I see Rachel among the girls gathered and look at her confused. "Rachel, you just told me that you were dating Carlos."

"I know," she replies with a shrug of her shoulders. "But I made a promise to myself that I would catch the bouquet at your wedding."

"Okay then," I say as I turn my back to the girls gathered. I throw the flowers over my shoulder and then turn to see who caught them. Sure enough, Rachel caught the bouquet.

Rachel cheers in excitement and I move out of the way so that James can throw the garter at the guys.

I watch in anticipation of who would have to put the garter on Rachel. Whoever it is, I fear for them when I see the look on Carlos' face.

I walk over towards Carlos as James throws the flimsy piece of fabric, and it lands right in Logan's hands. I start laughing right away at this because surely it will cause an awkward situation, seeing as Logan wanted to date Rachel when she first came to the Palmwoods.

She glares at me for laughing as she walks onto the dance floor and sits in the chair I had been sitting in a few minutes ago.

James joins me next to Carlos as the dj starts playing a song and Logan is forced to go to Rachel and put the garter on her leg. Both of them are blushing like crazy, and Camille and Carlos are both glaring from the side.

"I'm gonna kill him," Carlos says and I have to hold him back while James is laughing.

"Carlos, it's just a stupid tradition at weddings. Logan clearly is with Camille, even though I don't know if they are on again or off again." He still doesn't look reassured at this and I put an arm around his shoulder. "Trust me. I've been Rachel's friend for my entire life. I can tell she really cares about you. And she only caught the bouquet because of some stupid promise she made to herself as a little girl."

"I suppose you're right," he replies reluctantly with a sigh.

Rachel comes running over laughing, and grabs Carlos' hand and starts dragging him back to the dance floor. "C'mon Carlos, let's go dance!"

I turn towards James with a smile. "I told him so."

"He was probably just scared because he hasn't really been in too many relationships before."

"Maybe. But enough of being so serious, let's go have some fun before the reception ends."

As I go back out to dance with James by my side, I can't help but smile at how lucky I am to have such great friends and family. Never would I have thought that a simple encounter by a hotel pool would lead to me being married to the perfect guy.

I laugh as I watch the guys dancing together in a ridiculous way. Everything with these four is always crazy. That's just how they are. And surely I'll have many more crazy adventures with them in the future.

James slips his hand in mine and I break out of my daze and look up at him. "Lauren, are you almost ready to go? We have to go catch our flight."

I smile up at him. "Of course I'm ready."

We head back to our separate rooms so we can both change into something comfier for the long flight to Hawaii. Standing near the front door are all of our friends and family, waiting to say goodbye.

James and I hug a few people before we leave, mainly the guys, Rachel, and our family. We head outside to where a limo is waiting to take us to the airport with our luggage. James holds the door for me and I slide in and he follows right after. He immediately wraps his arms around me and pulls me close.

As the limo starts to drive away, I rest my head on his shoulder and look out the window. Just behind the building, fireworks start going off.

"I love you," James whispers to me as he kisses the top of my head.

"I love you too," I reply as we head off towards the start of our new life together. I continue watching the fireworks until I can't see them anymore. The fireworks have a special meaning to me, ever since I first met James.

Because just like the first time I met James and every time after that, I can see the sparks fly.

**Well after nine months of writing, and 83,000 words, it's over. This story is literally my baby; I have spent so much time working on it, and just like that, it's done. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story since I first started posting it. I know I've been bad about posting quickly, but I wanted to make this the best I could. And thank you to everyone, even if you haven't read it since the beginning, thanks for reading this.**

**Every review I got on this story encouraged me to continue writing. I don't think I could have continued this without you. So thank you, again.**

**So I'm not quite ready to part from Lauren and James just yet. Yes, I am considering writing a sequel to this story! I'm just going to wait a bit to start that so I can finish the other stories I have going on.**

**Once again, thank you for reading this. I really hope you liked this story and will read the sequel.**


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